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4? 


AN  APPEAL 

TO 

COMMON  SENSE  AND  COMMON  JUSTICE  ; 

OR, 

IRREFRAGABLE  FACTS 

OPPOSED   TO 

PLAUSIBLE  THEOHIES: 

Intended  to  prove  the  extreme  injustice,  as  well  as  the  utter 
impolicy,  of  the  existing  tariff. 

ILLUSTRATED    BY 

j3  sketch  of  the  policy  and  situation  of  England,  France, 
and  Holland. 


BY  M.  CAREY. 


THIRD  EDITION  IMPROVED. 


"  Our  fast  sailing'  sliips  which  traverse  the  ocean  ;  our  steam-boats  which 
f  ascend  our  magnificent  and  rapid  rivers  ;  our  improved  roads  and  canals 
"  of  interior  communication — all  of  wliich  were  devised  for  our  peculiar 
"  benefit,  are  at  present  employed  principally  to  aid  our  livals,  and  to  trans- 
f*  port  comniodities  into  the  central  regions  of  this  great  continent,  which 
"  check  every  effort  of  profitable  industry,  and  blast  every  germ  of  patriotic 
"  enterprise." — Gov  Wolcott. 

"  Our  country  can  no  longer  boast  of  the  trade  she  once  enjoyed.  In 
*'  our  eastern  cities,  commerce  has  declined  apace,  real  estate  has  suffered  a 
*'  depreciation,  commodities  have  fallen  in  value  ;  -while  industry,  no  longer find- 
•'  ing  its  former  employment,  languishes  luithout  reiuard.  In  our  western 
•'  country,  the  value  of  lind  has  experienced  a  great  dechne  :  its  produce 
"  remains  unpurchased,  and  a  depreciated  curi'ency  is  spreading  its  destruc- 
'  tive  influence,  and  laying  the  foundation  for  permanent  distress."--- JVew 
York  Literary  and  Scientific  Repository,  Jidy,  1821. 

"  Men  ivill  sooner  live  prosperously  under  the  -worst  government,  than  starve 
mder  the  best." — Posti-ethwaite. 


\ 


PHILADELPHIA: 

PUBLISHED  BY  H.  C.  CAREY  &  I.  LEA. 

April  2,  1822. 


I  most  earnestly  request  the  cultivators  of  the  soil,  whose  hands 
this  may  reach,  to  ponder  well  on  the  annexed  admonitions,  drawn 
from  the  most  unexceptionable  sources,  and  pointing  out  their  true 
interests  with  "  a  pencil  of  light."  First  in  order  is  Adam  Smith, 
who,  in  these  few  lines,  has  subverted  nearly  the  whole  of  his  cwn 
theory. 

"  Whatever  tends  to  diminish  in  any  country,  the  number  of  artificers  andmanu- 
"factiirers,  tends  to  diminish  the  home  market,  the  most  important  of  all  markets 
"  for  the  rude  produce  of  the  land,  and  thereby  still  further  to  discourage  agri- 
•' cjiftj/re."— Smith's  Wealtli  of  Nations,  vol.  2.  p.  149. 

"  The  uniform  appearance  of  an  abundance  of  specie,  as  the  concomitant  of 
"  a  flourishing  state  of  manufactures,  and  of  the  reverse,  where  they  do  not 
"  prevail,  afford  a  strong  presumption  of  their  favourable  operation  on  the 
"  wealth  of  a  country." — A.  Hamilton. 

"  The  restrictive  regidations  which  in  foreign  markets  abridge  the  vent  for 
"  the  increasing  surplns  of  our  agricultural  products,  serve  to  beget  an  earnest 
"  desire,  that  a  more  extensive  demand  for  that  surplus  be  created  at  home. — 
Hamilton. 

"  If  Europe  will  not  take  from  us  the  products  of  our  soil,  on  terms  con- 
"  sistent  with  our  interest,  the  natural  remedy  is  to  contract  as  fast  as  possible 
"  our  luants  of  her." — Idem. 

"  In  vain  do  we  discover  that  the  earth  is  capable  of  producing  the  most 
"  luxuriant  harvests  with  very  little  labour.  Our  abundant  harvests  are  pro- 
"  duced  as  undeniable  proofs  of  this  in  vain  :  'Bnt place  a  manufacturer  in  the 
"  neighbourhood,  -who  -will  buy  every  little  article  that  the  farmer  can  bring  to  mar- 
"  ket,  and  he  -will  soon  become  industrious.  The  most  barren  fields  ■will  then  be- 
"  come  covered  -with  some  7iseful  produce." — Anderson  on  National  Industrj^ 
Page  62. 

"  Considering  how  fast  and  how  much  the  progress  of  new  settlements  in 
*'  the  United  States  must  increase  the  surplus  produce  of  the  sod,  and  weigh- 
"  ing  seriously  the  tendency  of  the  system,  which  prevails  among  most  of  the 
"  commercial  nations  of  Europe,  whatever  dependence  may  be  placed  on  the 
' '  force  of  natural  circumstances  to  counteract  the  eflTects  of  an  ailificial  poUcy; 
"  there  appear  strong  reasojis  to  regard  the  foreign  demand  for  that  surplus,  as 
"  too  uncertain  a  reliance,  and  to  desire  a  substitute  for  it  in  an  extensive  domestic 

larket. 

"  To  secure  such  a  market,  there  is  no  othei-  expedient,  thaii  to  promote  manu- 

•'icturing  establishments.     Manufacturers,  who  constitute  the  most  numerous 

lass,  after  the  cultivators  of  the  land,  are  for  that  reason  the  principal  con- 

umers  of  the  surplus  of  their  laboiu*. 

'  It  merits  particular  observation,  that  the  multiplication  of  manufactories  not 

"     'dy  furnishes  a  market  for  those  articles  -whch  have  been  accustomed  to  be pro- 

"  ilijced  in  abundance,  in  a  country  ;  but  it  like-tvise  creates  a  demand  for  such  as 

"-.tere  either  unknown  or  produced  iii  inconsiderable  quantities.  The  bowels  as 

ell  as  the  surface  of  the  earth  are  ransacked  for  articles  which  were  before 

eglected.  Animals,  plants,  and  minerals  acquire  a  utility  and  value,  which 
\v  ere  before  unexplored. 

"The  foregoing  considerations  seem  sufficient  to  establish  as  general  propo- 

'     tions,  that  it  is  the  interest  of  nations  to  diversify  the  industrious  pursuits 

'  the  individuals  who  compose  them — that  the  establishment  of  manufactures 

calculated  not  only  to  increase  the  general  stock  of  useful  and  productive  labour, 

at  even  to  improve  the  state  of  agriculture  inparticidar,  certainly  to  advance  the 

.terests  of  those  luho  are  engagedin  it," — Alexander  Hamilton,  vol.  1.  p.  182. 


'    -^  «. 


PREFACE. 


WERE  any  apology  necessary  for  once  more  tres- 
passing on  the  public  attention,  upon  the  subject  of 
affording  protection  to  that  important  portion  of  the 
nation.il  industry,  devoted  to  manufactures,  in  which 
are  employed  nearly  one  fourth  part  of  the  white  po- 
pulation of  the  eleven  states  north  of  Virginia,  and 
above  one  seventh  part  of  the  whole  population  of  the 
union,  black  and  white,  an  adequate  one  would  be 
found  in  the  still  unsettled  state  of  the  public  mind 
respecting  it — the  total  absence  of  any  measure  cal- 
culated for  attaining  that  grand  object* — and  its  im- 
mense importance  to  the  present  and  future  happiness 
and  prosperity  of  this  mighty  and  rising  empire. 

When  the  public  distress  called  general  attention  to 
this  subject  in  1819,  the  disciples  of  the  Hamiltonianf 

*  How  pointed,  but  how  just  the  censure  of  the  withering  and 
callous  indifference  towards  the  public  distress,  displayed  by 
congress,  in  the  years  18X6,  17,  18,  19  and  20,  conveyed  in  the 
following  remarks,  extracted  from  a  late  message  of  Governor 
Adair,  to  the  legislature  of  Kentucky  I  It  is  not  certain  that  it 
■was  intended  for  them — but,  had  they  sat  for  it,  the  portrait 
could  not  have  been  truer  to  nature. 

"  Epochs  of  severe  pecuniary  distress  will  sometimes  occur 
"  in  all  countries.  Such  an  one  at  this  moment  exists,  and  its 
"  effects  are  commensurate  with  the  commercial  world.  In 
"  such  a  crisis  is  it  for  legislative  assemblies  to  witness  in  silence 
"  the  general  wreck  of  private  independence  and  public  prosperity, 
"  and  supinely  await  the  slow  growth  and  dubious  result  of  a  new 
"  order  of  things,  or  avert  the  impending  evils^  by  appropriate 
"  ayid  decisive  remedies  P^  Who  can  try  the  conduct  of  con- 
gress by  this  just  test,  and  not  deeply  feel  for  the  honour  of  his 
country  ? 

t  This  is  the  proper  title  of  the  school  of  political  econo- 
mists, who  advocate  that  system  of  protecting  national  indus- 
try, which  has  raised  England  so  high  in  tlic  rank  of  nations, 


school  of  political  economy,  were  every  where  a  very 
small  minority — perhaps  not  m.ore  than  one  in  twenty 
of"  our  citizens  gentrally.  In  the  opposite  school,  that 
of  Adam  Smith,  and  his  disciples,  was  enrolled  in 
every  quarter  a  most  overwhelming  majority.  But  the 
pressure  of  the  times,  arising  from  an  utter  neglect  of 
the  Hamiltonian  doctrines — the  intrinsic  and  irrefraga- 
ble soundness  of  those  doctrines — together  with  the 
unceasing  investigation  of  the  subject  by  writers  in 
every  part  of  the  United  States,  have  made  proselytes 
to  an  extent  beyond  the  most  sanguine  calculation. 
And  entire  sections  of  the  country,  formerly  hostile 
to  these  doctrines,  are  now  numbered  among  their 
most  zealous  supporters. 

It  is  gratifying  to  find  that  several  of  the  gover- 
nors of  the  individual  states,  have  come  boldly  for- 
ward in  support  of  the  necessity  of  abridging  the 
consumption  of  foreign,  and  encouraging  that  of  do- 
mestic manufactures.  Such  countenance  cannot  fail 
to  have  great  weight  and  influence  with  a  public,  giv- 
en to  reflexion,  and  among  whom  opinion  is  as  free  as 
air. 

and  rescued  France  from  the  tissue  of  calamities  inflicted  on 
her  by  the  ambition  of  her  rulers  during  her  revolutionary 
wars,  and  her  subjugation  after  the  downfall  of  Bonaparte; 
in  opposition  to  those  who  hold  that  '■'■  trade  will  regulate, 
itself,''^  although  they  are  constantly  calling  for  regulations  in 
favour  of  commerce  ;  and  that  nations  "  ought  to  buy  merchan- 
dise wherever  they  can  purchase  it  cheapest,"  although  it 
produces  the  consequence,  according  to  Adam  Smith,  of  "  rfe- 
privivg'  many  thousands  of  people  of  their  ordinary  employment 
and  means  of  subsistence."  Mr.  Hamilton  studied  the  systems 
of  Colbert,  Sully  and  all  the  old  writers — and  has  embodied  the 
whole  substance  >.f  them  in  his  invaluable  report. 

It  may  be  boldly  said,  and  the  declaration  will  stand  the  test 
of  critical  examination,  that  a  more  valuable  system  of  rules  for 
pomotin^  the  prosperity  of  nations,  never  existed.  It  will  bean 
eternal  monument  to  the  fame  of  its  author,  who  might  well 
have  said,  when  he  published  it — 

"  Jamque  opus  exegi ;  quod  nee  Jovis  ira,  nee  ignes, 
"  Nee  poterit  ferrum,  nee  edax  abolere  vetustas." 


"  An  increased  degree  of  industry  and  economy,  with  an  in- 
"  creasing  disposition  to  substitute  the  productions  and  manufac- 
"  tures  of  our  own  for  those  of  foreign  countries,  aftbrd  a  brighter 
"  prospect;  and  if  the  spirit  of  the  people  be  wisely  sustained  by 
^^  the  government,  it  cannot  fail  to  overcome  every  remaining 
"  obstacle." — Message  of  Samuel  Bell,  Esq.  Governor  of  New 
llampsliire. 

"  A  determination  on  ilie  part  of  the  people  to  promote  agri- 
"  culture  and  domestic  or  household  manufactures,  and  to 
"  lessen  the  consumption  of  foreign  goods  of  every  description, 
"will  soon  relieve  the  community  from  the  pressure."— 
Speech  of  William  Carroll,  Esq.  Governor  of  Tennessee. 

"  If  the  encouragement  of  American  manufactures  should 
*•  have  the  effect  greatly  to  increase,  not  the  profits,  but  the 
"number  of  manufacturers  and  manufacturing  establishments, 
"and  thereby  produce  a  competition  which  does  not  exist — 
"  to  measureably  change  the  course  of  agricultural  pursuits,  now 
*'  so  unprofitable,  by  inviting  the  growth  of,  and  furnishing  a 
*'  home  market  for,  raw  materials,  and  also  a  market  for  that  sur- 
'^jjIus  produce  which  has  heretofore  been  exported,  and  to  secure 
*'  among  us  a  specie  currency,  there  can  be  no  doubt  ot  its 
"wisdom  and  justice." — Speech  of  Richard  Skinner,  Esq.  Go- 
vernor of  Vermont. 

'*  There  is  now  no  independent  civil  nation  but  ourselves 
*'  which  has  not  become  aivakened  to  the  necessity  of  protecting 
" its  ijiternal  industry:  h-om  the  Baltic  to  the  Mediterranean 
*'  the  effort  is  universal :  and  we  cannot  with  impunity  disregard 
"the  admonitions  which  their  examples  inculcate.  w3  comparison 
*'  between  the  condition  of  France  and  this  country  will  illustrate 
**the  difference  between  wise  and  inefficient  systems  of  political 
"  economy.  For  more  than  twenty-five  years  France  was  ha- 
"  rassed  by  desolating  wars,  and  within  five  years  she  was  op- 
"  pressed  by  foreign  armies,  excited  to  acts  of  extortion  by 
<'  vindictive  resentment.  JVbic  she  supports  a  circulating  medium 
"in gold  and  silver  coins;  her  agriculture,  arts  and  manufac- 
*^ures  are  flourishing;  her  commerce  is  reviving  ;  and  both  ex- 
"  cite  the  jealousy  of  her  neighbours  and  rivals;  her  revenue 
"  exceeds  her  expenditures,  and  her  taxes  are  diminishing. 

"  Excepting  the  short  period  of  the  last  war,  we  have  enjoyed 
"  peace,  [for  nearly  30  years]  and  for  most  of  the  time  have  sup- 
"  posed  ourselves  to  be  prosperous ;  hntthe  acquisitions  of  which 
"  we  have  boasted  for  20  years,  are  vanished,  or  are  invested  in  un- 
"  productive  property,  which  is  daily  diminishing  in  value.  Our 
'industry  is  becoming  languid,  our  currency  consists  of  notes 
"  which  are  representatives  of  our  debts  due  to  banks.  Even  usu- 
"  17  is  less  profitable  than  heretofore.  Our  national  debt  exceeds 
f  what  it  did  when  the  present  government  was  first  organized, 
f  including  the  debt  of  the  revolutionary  war,  and  the  state 


"  debts  which  were  then  assumed ;  while  our  revenue  is  un- 
"  equal  to  our  annual  expenses,  on  the  most  reduced  establish- 
"ment  which  we  can  make.'' — Message  of  Oliver  Wolcott, 
Esq.  Governor  of  Connecticut. 

"  The  excess  of  the  products  of  the  soil  beyond  the  con- 
"  sumption  of  the  agricultural  interest,  must  either  find  a  sale 
"  in  the  home,  and  the  foreign  markets,  or  be  lost  to  the  pro- 
"  prietors.  To  rely  on  foreign  markets  is  to  expose  ourselves  to 
<•  the  caprice  of  foreign  policy,  and  to  commit  primary  interests  to 
"  the  guardianship  of  rival  nations.  We  therefore  must  consult 
"  the  substantial  and  permanent  prosperity  of  agriculture,  by 
"providing  for  the  domestic  consumption  of  its  productions ; 
"  and  this  can  only  be  accomplished  by  the  dense  population 
"of  our  manufacturing  towns,  and  populous  cities.  And  it  is 
•'  indeed  highly  satisfactory  to  witness  the  growing  prosperity 
"  of  the  manufacturing  interest,  after  the  blow  which  it  re- 
"  ceived  on  the  termination  of  the  late  war.  In  its  fabrics,  its 
"  consumptions,  and  all  its  operations,  it  stimulates  agricultural 
"  industry,  by  purchasing  its  productions,  and  administering  to 
"  its  accommodations." — Message  of  Dc  Witt  Clinton,  Esq. 
Governor  of  New  York. 

"  The  limited  demand  for,  and  consequent  low  prices  of,  our 
"  agricultural  products  in  foreign  markets,  cannot  fail  to  sug- 
"  gest  the  necessity,  as  well  as  the  /lolicij,  of  promoting  domestic 
'■'■manufactures,  which,  if  firofierly  encouraged,  would  secure  a 
^^sujficient  home  market  for  all  our  surjilus  firoduce.  Whatever 
*'  may  be  expected  from  legislative  enactments,  whether  by  the 
"  national  or  state  governments,  in  aid  of  domestic  industry,  no 
"fless  is  to  be  hoped  from  the  influence  of  examples  that  shall 
"tend  to  eradicate  the  firejudiccs  and  unnatural  predilections  of 
*'  those  who  prefer  to  encourage  the  industry  of  Europe  and  Asia^ 
*■'■  to  that  of  their  own  country." — Message  of  Joseph  Iliester, 
Esq.  Governor  of  Pennsylvania,  Dec.  7,  1820. 

The  President  of  the  United  States  has  appeared 
in  the  lists  on  the  same  side  of  the  question,  but.  not 
quite  so  decidedly.  His  sentiments,  however,  admit 
of  no  other  explanation,  than  is  analogous  to  those 
of  the  governors.  For  can  any  reason  be  offered  in 
support  of  an  object,  more  cogent  than  the  one  he 
gives  in  favour  of  '*  the  hicrcase  of  domestic  manufac- 
tures,^'' that  thereby  the  "  dependence  of  the  several 
parts  of  the  union  on  each  other,  and  the  strength  of 
the  union  will  be  proportionally  increased  ?" 

"  It  cannot  be  doubted,  that  the  more  complete  our  internal 
*^  resources^  and  tlie  less  dependent  xve  are  on  foreign  powers  y 


*'yor  every  national  as  rvell  as  domestic  purpose^  the  greater 
*^  tind  more  stable  will  be  the  public  felicity. 

"  By  the  increase  oj"  domestic  manufactures  xvill  the  de- 
"  mandfor  the  rude  materials  at  home  be  increased :  and  thus 
*'  will  the  dependence  of  the  several  parts  of  the  union  on 
*'  each  other,  and  the  strength  of  the  union,  be  proportionally 
"  augme7ited" — President's  Message,  December  20,  1821. 

The  secretary  of  the  treasury,  too,  has  added  the 
high  sanction  of  his  official  station  to  the  Hamiltonian 
theory,  as  may  be  seen,  page  88. 

There  is,  however,  a  formidable  phalanx  in  con- 
gress, who  are  still  hostile  to  it,  and  who  may  perhaps 
procrastinate  for  a  season,  the  adoption  of  any  effi- 
cient measures  predicated  on  it.  But  it  can  scarcely 
be  doubted,  that  they  will  ultimately,  and  at  no  very 
distant  day,  yield  to  the  force  of  public  opinion.  And 
short  as  is  my  probable  tenure  of  life,  I  indulge  the 
fond  hope  of  beholding  established  here  a  permanent 
system,  similar  to  that  which  has  repaired  the  losses, 
healed  the  wounds,  and  not  only  restored,  but  greatly 
magnified  the  prosperity  of  France,  and  enabled  Eng- 
land to  decide  the  destinies  of  half  the  globe — the  an- 
tipodes of  what  we  have  "  felt,"  and  what  Holland,  to 
borrow  a  figure  from  Mr.  Cambreleng,  "  feels  in 
every  limb." 

The  progress  that  has  been  made  is  highly  encou- 
raging, particularly  when  we  consider  the  formidable 
array  of  hostile  names,  among  which  are  to  be  reck- 
oned some  of  the  most  celebrated  in  Europe — Adam 
Smith,  Say,  Ricardo,  Sismondi,  &c.  &c. 

It  required  about  thirty  years  to  arrest  the  career  of 
the  accursed  slave  trade,  one  of  the  foulest  disgraces 
of  the  human  race,  notwithstanding  its  glaring  and  fla- 
grant atrocity,  and  notwithstanding  the  united  efibrts 
of  hundreds  of  the  wisest  and  best  men  of  the  last 
and  present  century.  Compared  with  this  slow  pro- 
gress, the  spread  of  these  opinions,  is  truly  surprising. 

Powerful  auxiliaries  have  recently  enlisted  them- 
selves among  the  opponents  of  the  theory  of  Adam 


8 

Smith.  I  mean  the  Editors  of  the  Quarterly  Review, 
who,  in  the  forty-eighth  number,  ha-  e,  in  a  most  mas- 
terly and  unanswerable  essay,  utterly  demolished 
the  basis  on  which  that  theory  rests — that  is,  the  fa- 
cility with  which  talents  and  capital  can  transfvr  them- 
selves from  one  branch  of  industry  to  another,  which 
the  doctor  calls  "  a  collateral  branch. "  This  is  the  key- 
stone on  which  the  whole  strene;th  of  the  edifice  rests. 

The  burden  of  Dr.  Smith's  great  work  is  the  im- 
mense advantage  to  be  derived  from  free  and  unre- 
strained trade,  which  is  to  produce  a  millennium  in 
trade  and  commerce.  But  he  admits,  what  is  obvious 
enough,  that  "  were  those  high  duties  and  prohibitions 
taken  away  at  once,  cheaper  foreign  goods  of  the  same 
kind  might  be  poured  so  fast  into  the  home  market, 
as  to  deprive  at  once  many  thousands  of  people  of  their 
ordinary  employment  and  means  of  subsistence.''''^ 

The  qualifying  "  at  once''''  answers  little  purpose  ; 
for  whether  they  are  removed  "  at  once,"  or  gradually, 
the  effect  is  ultimately  the  same,  to  supersede  domes- 
tic industry.  There  is  only  the  difierence  that  exists 
between  the  operation  of  slow  and  violent  poisons. 

For  this  most  serious  evil,  he  has  provided  what  he 
calls  a  remedy,  of  the  efficacy  of  which  a  moderate 
capacity  can  judge.  "  To  the  greater  part  of  manu- 
factures," he  says,  "  there  are  other  collateral  manu- 
factures of  so  familiar  a  nature,  that  a  workman  can 
easily  transfer  his  industry  from  one  to  the  othery  And 
further—-"  the  capital  of  the  country  being  the  same, 
the  demand  for  labour  will  be  the  same,  though  it  may 
be  exerted  in  different  places  and  for  different  occupa- 
tions." 

Over  this  fanciful  theory,  the  Quarterly  Review  has 
gained  a  complete  triumph,  and  put  it  down  for  ever 
by  a  train  of  irresistible  reasoning,  a  master- piece 
of  eloquence.  And  surely  the  most  ardent  admirer  of 
Dr.  Smith's  theory,  in  his  utmost  glow  of  enthusiasm  on 
the  subject,  will  admit,  if  "  many  thousands  of  peo- 

*  Wealtli  of  Nations,  vol.  1.  p.  3^:8, 


/?/(!?"  are  "  deprived  of  their  ordinary  employment  and 
means  of  subsistence^^"*  whcthei  ■' at  once^""  o»  >  ciiiy 
given  time,  "  by  pourinii^  cheaper  goods  of  the  same 
kinds  into  the  home  market^''''  thai  the  advantaeje  of  in- 
troducing *'  cheaper  goods,"  even  if  these  "  collateral 
manufactures^^  can  be  found,  is  very  problematical. 
But  if  there  are  no  such  "  collateral  manufactures," 
then  the  introduction  of  the  "  cheaper  goods"  is  a  Pan- 
dora's Box,  fraught  with  curses  to  the  community  in 
which  the  theory  is  carried  into  operation. 

For  the  satisfaction  of  such  readers  as  may  have 
neither  leisure  nor  inclination  to  peruse  the  whole  of 
this  elaborate  review,  I  tsubmit  a  few  extracts,  which 
display  its  spirit  and  cogency. 

"  The  transition  from  one  description  of  labour  to  an- 
"  other,  would  not  be  easy.  A  jnan  accustomed  for  a  num- 
"  ber  of  years  to  one  particular  kind  of  work,  cannot  readilu 
*^  pass  over  to  another  altogether  different  Persons,  espe- 
**  cially  of  the  class  of  life  of  artizans  and  labourers,  are  slow 
**  to  form  and  slow  to  change  their  habics.  The  skill  which 
*'  they  tardily  acquire^  they  tenaciously  adhere  to.  A  far- 
*'  iner's  labourer  will  not  readily  becoiTie  a  mechanic  ;  a  silk 
*'  weaver  be  made  a  cutler ;  a  lace  maker,  or  glover  be  con- 
"  verted  into  a  maker  of  woollens. 

"Not  only  would  a  change  of  occupation  be  requisite,  but 
"  also  of  the  seat  of  industry.  The  Norfolk  farming  la- 
"  bourer  might  have  to  make  hose  in  Leicester  or  Notting- 
*'ham;  the  East  Lothian  cottager  to  weave  muslins  at 
**  Glasgow,  or  checks  at  Carlisle  ;  and  the  Spitalfield's 
*'  weaver  to  become  a  japanner  at  Birmin^jham,  or  cotton 
*'  spinner  at  Manchester.  Whole  districts  of  Ireland  might 
**■  have  to  interchange  residence  with  those  of  England  and 
•*  Scotland^  the  north  with  the  south,  and  the  east  with  the 
**  westy  with  the  rapidity  of  a  horde  of  Tartars.  There 
*'  must  be  a  transference  of  the  disengaged  people  to  the 
**  seats  of  retained  manufacture,  or  the  retained  manusac- 
"  ture  must  extend  to  their  residence.  The  latter  is  scarce- 
"  ly  practicable,  when  the  convenience  or  necessity  is  con- 
"  sidered  of  concentration,  in  manufacturing  industry,  of 
"  the  several  connected  processes  and  branches."* 

*  Quarterly  Review,  No.  48,  page  285, 
2 


10 

It  may  be  strongly  doubted  whether  the  world  has 
ever  witnessed  a  more  signal  overthrow  of  any  plau- 
sible error,  than  the  preceding  paragraphs  exhibit. 

Our  experience  in  1784, 85,  86  and  87,  seals  the  con- 
demnation of  this  theory.  *'  Cheaper  goods"  were  im- 
ported than  we  could  make.  Many  "  thousands  of  our 
citizens"  were  "at  once  deprived  of  their  ordinary 
employment  and  means  of  subsistence,"  and  devoted 
to  idleness  and  pauperism,  and  exposed  to  the  seduc- 
tions of  vice  and  guilt.  There  were  none  of  those 
"  collateral  manufactures"  to  which  they  could  "  trans- 
fer their  industry."  And  although  "  the  capital  of  the 
country  remained  the  same^^''  surely  no  man  will  have 
the  hardihood  to  assert  that  ^^  the  demand  for  labour 
was  the  sarne.^"* 

Our  recent  experience  equally  establishes  the  perni- 
cious consequences  of  the  system.  A  large  portion  of 
capital  employed  in  the  manufactures  which  have 
been  destroyed,  was  annihilated — but  there  was  still  a 
vast  superabundance  of  capital  in  the  country,  for 
which  employment  could  not  be  had — yet  "the  de- 
mand for  labour"  was  so  far  from  being  "  the  same," 
that  myriads  of  citizens  were  destitute  of  employment 
throughout  the  nation  in  1817,  1818,  and  1819,  par- 
ticularly in  the  latter  year. 


On  the  subject  of  protecting  the  national  manu- 
factures, a  mighty  and  pernicious  error  prevails.  It 
is  almost  universally  believed,  that  the  struggle 
has  been  to  confer  on  the  manufacturers  the  pro- 
tection and  patronage  of  the  government,  at  the  ex- 
pense of  the  rest  of  the  community,  and  without  a  sha- 
dow of  reciprocity.  Nothing  can  be  farther  from  the 
truth  thun  this  idea,  which  ought  to  be  scouted  oft'  the 
face  of  the  earth.  The  true  questions  are,  whether  the 
agriculiurists  and  merchants,  having  for  thirty  years 
had,  and  still  having,  the  legislation  in  their  own  hands, 


11 

itnd  having  protected  themselves  by  every  conceivable 
means,  shall  not  impart  a  portion  of  that  protection  to 
their  brethren  ?  And  whether,  for  instance,  the  cotton  < 
planters  protected  by  duties  from  3:i  to  40  per  cent. —  \ 
the  sugar  planters  by  duties  about  100  per  cent.*--- 
the  tobacco  planters,  secured  from  foreign  rivalship 
in  the  exclusive  possession  of  the  domestic  mar- 
ket, by  duties  absolutely  prohibitory,  on  snuff  and 
manufactured  tobacco,  shall  not,  from  motives  of  shame 
or  justice,  cease  to  oppose  a  protection  of  33  1-3  to 
the  manufacturers  of  chintzes  and  woollen  cloths,  25 
per  cent,  to  the  manufacturers  of  iron,  steel,  copper, 
brass,  lead,  linens,  &c.  he. 

To  originality  this  pamphlet  professes  little,  and  to 
elegance  of  style,  or  beauty  of  arrangement,  no  claim. 
On  the  topics  herein  discussed,  the  writer  has  within 
the  last  three  years  published  seven  or  eight  pamphlets; 
of  course  there  must  unavoidably  be  muoh  repetition. 

•  In  the  former  edition,  the  duty  on  muscovado  sugar  was 
quoted  at  40  to  66  per  cent,  as  stated  in  the  "  New  and  Old 
Tariffs  compared."  This  was  an  error,  which  subsequent  in- 
fonnation  has  enabled  me  to  correct.  Muscovado  sugar  wag 
not  quite  three  cents  per  lb.  at  the  Havanna,  January  20,  1822. 
Of  course  the  duty,  three  cents,  is  about  one  hundred  per  cent. 
And  it  thus  appears,  that  the  sugar  planters,  who  aided  to  vote 
down  a  duty  of  only  thirty-three  per  cent,  for  the  protection  of 
their  unrepresented  fellow  citizens,  engaged  in  the  manufac^ 
ture  of  woollen  and  fine  cotton  goods,  are  themselves  protected 
by  a  duty  of  one  hundred  per  cent,  on  a  necessary  of  life,  of 
which  the  freight  and  other  charges  ^re  about  fifty  per  cent. 
For  the  honour  of  human  nature,  it  is  to  be  regretted  that  such 
a  monstrous  fact  is  matter  of  record. 

Muscovado  sugar  presents  one  other  view  of  the  tariff,  not 
very  creditable  to  its  framers  or  advocates.  The  qualities  of 
this  article  vary  very  much  ;  some  of  the  inferior  kinds  being 
sold  at  two  cents  and  a  half  per  lb. — others  at  three — and  su- 
perior qualities  at  four  and  five.  The  inferior  kinds  are  used 
exclusively  by  the  poor — the  superior  in  coffee  by  the  middle 
and  wealthy  classes.  But  all  are  subject  to  the  same  unvarying 
duty.  The  poor  therefore  pay  120  per  cent — while  the  middle 
and  higher  classes  pay  but  60,  75,  or  It)©  !  Comment  oft  such 
a  system  is  wholly  superfluous. 


12 

And  of  such  subjects  it  may  be  truly  said — res  negat 
arnari — contenta  doceru  Elaboration  of  style,  or  fas- 
tidiousness of  arrangement  would  be  misplaced.  My 
reliance  is  wholly  on  strong  facts  and  plain  deduc- 
tions. 

February  4,  1822. 


Preface  to  the  Second  Edition, 

IN  this  edition  sundry  additions  and  improvements 
are  mude,  some  of  considerable  importance. 

Further  features  are  given  of  the  calamitous  state 
of  Holland,  from  which  it  appears  that  her  "  brew- 
eries and  distilleries  have  been  immensely  diminish- 
ed" --that  her  important  *'  manufacture  of  laces  has 
teen  almost  entirely  annihilated  ;"  and  that  the  defi- 
cit of  her  revenue  for  1818  and  1819,  was  11,256,000 
florins,  equal  to  about  S4,560,000. 

More  recent  views  are  also  given  of  the  prosperous 
state  of  France,  from  the  recent  report  of  the  minister 
of  finances. 

To  facilitate  reference  to  the  facts  herein  contained, 
which  may  tje  useful  in  future  investigations  of  the 
subject,  a  copious  index  is  added  to  the  present 
edition. 

March  8,  1822. 


Preface  to  the  Third  Edition, 

The  corrections  and  alterations  in  this  edition  are 
but  few.  I  have,  on  further  reflection  and  inquiry, 
been  induced  to  assume  our  foreign  commercial  debt 
to  be  12,0(10,000  of  dollars,  instead  of  7,500,000,  as 
in  the  former  editions. 


April  2^  1822. 


AN  APPEAL,  &c. 


CHAPTER  I, 


Advantages  of  retrospective  reviews* — Distresses  oj 
1817,  18,  19,  and  ^K)y  particularly  in  Pennsylvania^ 
Withering  and  most  culpable  disregard  of  the  pub' 
lie  suffering  by  congress.  Present  revival  of  ma- 
nufactures.  Prosperity  of  the  manufacture  of  coarse 
eottons*  Egregious  error  of  a  committee  of  con- 
gress. Distressed  situation  of  the  western  part  of 
JVew  York.  Testimony  of  the  secretary  of  the 
treasury. 

J^riends  and  Fellow  Citizens, 

In  private  life,  it  is  found  salutary  frequently  to  re- 
view our  past  conduct  with  care  and  attention,  in  or- 
der to  ascertain  how  far  it  has  been  regulated  by 
wisdom,  or  been  under  the  guidance  of  folly  or  error ; 
so  that  we  may  be  encouraged  to  persevere  in  the 
right  path,  or  shape  our  course  from  a  sinister  one, 
as  the  case  may  require. 

Such  a  procedure  is  equally  useful  in  public  af- 
fairs ;  in  which  folly  and  error  as  frequently  predo- 
minate as  in  those  of  individuals.    If  honestly  and 


14 

fairly  pursued,  with  the  attention  its  importance  de- 
mands, the  enquiry  can  never  fail  to  be  eminently  be- 
neficial. The  neglect  of  it  is  one  of  the  chief  reasons 
why  nations  and  individuals  so  frequently  blunder 
on  from  one  folly  to  another,  to  the  ruin  of  their 
prosperity  and  reputation. 

At  the  present  moment  a  review  of  this  kind  is 
peculiarly  requisite.  We  have  enjoyed  peace  for  above 
seven  years,  after  a  war  of  very  short  duration, 
closed  with  honour  and  in  prosperous  circumstances. 
We  had  every  reason  to  expect  as  high  a  degree  of 
prosperity,  as  ever  fell  to  the  lot  of  any  nation.  But, 
that  peace  has  not  brought  in  its  train  those  blessings 
and  that  prosperity  with  which  we  flattered  ourselves 
it  would  be  accompanied,  is  a  truth  beyond  contro- 
versy. During  a  large  portion  of  its  existence,  par- 
ticularly in  1817,  18,  1819,  and  1820,  we  experienced 
a  degree  of  distress  and  suffering  which  could  not  be 
exceeded  by  the  calamities  of  war,  and  which  in  some 
parts  of  the  union  equalled  what  is  felt  in  any  portion 
of  the  civilized  world.  This  will  not  appear  extrava- 
gant to  any  one  who  reads  the  documents  submitted 
to  the  legislature  of  Pennsylvania  in  1819-20,  by 
committees  appointed  to  investigate  the  cause  of  the 
then  existing  distress.  To  save  the  reader  the  trouble 
of  research,  I  annex  a  few  of  their  features. 

"  Forced  sales  of  merchandize,  household  goods,  farm- 
*'  ing  stock,  and  utensils,  at  prices  far  below  the  cost  of  pro- 
*'  duction,  by  which  numerous  families  have  been  deprived  of 
"  the  common  necessaries  of  life ^  and  of  the  implements  of 
"  their  trade. 

"  A  general  suspension  of  labour,  the  only  legitimate 
*'  source  of  wealth,  by  which  thousands  of  our  viost  useful 
"  citizens  are  rendered  destitute  of  the  mea7is  of  support, 
*'  and  are  reduced  to  the  extremity  of  misery  and  despair. 

"  Ruinous  sacrifices  of  landed  property  at  sheriffs'  sales^ 
"  whereby  in  many  cases  lands  and  houses  have  been  sold 
*'  at  less  than  a  half,  a  third,  or  a  fourth  part  of  their 
^'  former  value,  thereby  depriving  of  their  homes  and  the 
^''fruits  of  kihorious  years,  a  vast  mwiber  of  industrious 


15 

^''  farmers^  some  of  whom  have  been  driven  to  seeh-)in  the  un- 
"  cultivated  forests  of  the  west,  that  shelter  of  which  they 
*'  have  been  deprived  in  their  native  state. 

"  An  almost  entire  cessation  of  the  usual  circulation  of 
*'  commodities,  and  a  consequent  stagnation  of  business, 
"  which  \s  limited  to  the  mere  puf  chase  and  sale  oftheneces' 
"  saries  of  life,  and  of  such  articles  of  consumption  as  are 
"  absolutely  required  by  the  season. 

^*  An  universal  suspension  of  all  large  manufacturing 
*'  operations,  by  which,  in  addition  to  the  dismissal  oi  the 
"  numerous  productive  labourers  heretofore  employed  there- 
"  in,  the  public  loses  the  revenue  of  the  capital  invested  ia 
*'  machinery  and  buildings. 

"  The  overflowing  of  our  prisons  with  insolvent  debtors^ 
*'  most  of  whom  are  confined  for  small  sums,  whereby  the 
"  community  loses  a  portion  of  its  active  labour,  and  is  com- 
"  pelled  to  support  families  by  charity^  who  have  thus  been 
"  deprived  of  their  protectors,^ 

This  deplorable  situation  of  affairs,  in  a  great  state 
containing  a    million   of   industrious,    energetic    in- 
habitants, will  bear  eternal  record  against  the  unsound- 
ness of  the  policy  we  have  pursued,  by  which  the  in- 
terests of  the  grain-growing  states  are  most  cruelly 
sacrificed.     Their  grand  staple  has  been  reduced  in 
price,  so  low  as,  in  many  cases,  not  to  afford  a  remun- 
eration to  the  farmers,  in  consequence  of  being  exclud- 
ed from  consumption  in  England,  France,  Spain  and 
Portugal,  from  the  two  first  of  which  they  receive  ma- 
nufactures, to  the  value  of  millions  of  dollars  annually, 
which  they  are  not  allowed  to  pay  for  in  the  only  arti- 
cle produced  in  sufficient  abundance  to  equal  their 
amount.  They  are  precluded  by  their  federal  duties  and 
obligations  from  retaliating  prohibition  by  prohibition, 
as  is  dictated  by  every  principle  of  justice.     They  are 
thus   offered  up  as   victims  to   a  policy,  which   has 
strewed  desolation  and  destruction  among  their  citi- 
zens, blasted  the  prospects  of  thousands  of  them,  and 
defeated  the  effect  of  the  blessings  so  lavishly  bestow- 
ed on  them  by  bountiful  nature. 

Some  of  our  manufactures  have  received  a  deadly 


16 

wound,  from  which  they  have  not  revived,  and, 
without  a  change  of  policy,  never  vvill.f  The  farmers 
have  recently  suffered  equally  with  the  manufacturers. 
The  embarrassments  of  the  purchasers  of  the  public 
lands  have  been  so  great,  and  their  inability  to  dis- 
charge the  remaining  instalments  so  manifest,  that 
government  found  it  expedient  to  receive  back  the 
lands,  and  release  a  number  of  the  debtors  from 
their  engagements.  The  revenue,  which,  in  18  i 6, 
amounted  to  S36,306,874,  was,  in  1820,  i  educed 
to  15,005,612  dollars.  Commerce  has  languish- 
ed in  an  equal  degree  with  manufactures  and  agri- 
culture. To  complete  the  melancholy  picture,  I 
will  add  a  brief  sketch  from  the  report  of  the  com- 
mittee on  manufactures. — "  In  profound  peace,  with- 
*'  out  any  national  calamity,  the  country  became  em- 
"  barrassed  -with  debts — real  estate  was  under  a  rapid 
"  depreciation — the  markets  of  agriculture  and  pur- 
"  suits  of  manufactures  were  diminished  and  declin- 
"  ing — and  commerce  was  struggling  not  to  retain 
*'  the  carrying  the  produce  of  other  countries,  but  our 
*'  own.  There  ivasno  national  interest  in  a  healthful, 
*'  thriving  condition.  The  nation  at  large  was  not  so. 
"  The  operations  of  government  and  of  individuals 
"  alike  laboured  under  difficulties,  which  were  felt  by 
"  all." 

It  is  very  true,  however,  that  our  prospects  are 
brightening,  and  that  there  is  every  reason  to  hope, 
the  worst  is  past.     Some  of  our  manufactures,  parti- 

\  The  potteries  of  the  United  States,  were  nearly  all  laid 
prostrate  in  1816  and  1817",  by  the  influx  of  foreign  ware. 
There  were  four  extensive  ones  in  this  city,  which  have  never 
been  resumed.  An  invaluable  manufactory  of  screws,  the  ma- 
chinery of  which  reflected  honour  on  the  inventor  and  on  bis 
country,  and  which  might  be  made  a  source  of  great  national 
wealth,  has  been  recently  sold  for  8000  doIlars,^although  it  cost 
24,000;  so  that  instead  of  gaining  wealth  by  the  invention,  it 
swept  away  the  fruits  of  the  hard  and  honourable  industry  of 
years.  Such  has  been  the  case  with  a  great  variety  of  other 
manufactures,  without  exciting  the  least  concern  at  Washington. 


1^ 

Oularly  the  woollens  and  coarse  cottons,  are  recover- 
ing— the  former  slowly — the  latter  very  rapidly. 
Others  are  "  dragging  their  slow  length  along,"  and 
promise  gradually  to  revive. 

We  have  suffered  the  paroxysms  of  a  most  vio- 
lent fever — and  have  been  greatly  exhausted — but 
are  now  in  a  state  of  convalescence — not,  however, 
from  any  effort  on  the  part  of  the  government — for, 
however  painful  the  statement  may  be,  and  however 
discreditable  to  congress,  whose  sacred  and  para- 
mount duty  it  was  to  apply,  or  at  least  to  endea- 
vour to  apply,  a  remedy  to  this  disordered  state  of 
affairs,  it  is  a  most  melancholy  truth,  that  they  never 
adopted  any  measure  whatever  to  effect  this  grand 
object.  They  looked  with  the  most  withering  indiffer- 
ence on  the  general  distress,  which,  for  so  many  years, 
continued  with  extraordinary  intensity.  No  com- 
mittee was  ever  appointed  to  take  into  consideration 
the  state  of  the  nation,  and  point  out  any  remedial 
measure.  The  patient,  writhing  in  agony,  was  un- 
feelingly abandoned  by  his  physician,  and  the  disorder 
left  to  take  its  course.  Fortunately — but  no  thanks 
to  the  doctor — the  vis  medicatrix  nature  prevailed. 

Although  the  change  in  our  situation  is  very  con- 
soling, its  magnitude  and  importance  are  greatly 
overrated.  There  is  as  much  felicitation  and  exulta- 
tion as  if  we  had  attained  the  high  degree  of  pros- 
perity which  a  wise  system  of  policy  could  not  fail  to 
insure  us.  That  we  have  not  only  ceased  to  retrograde, 
but  that  we  are  making  advances,  is  undoubtedly 
true.  But  that,  except  in  the  single  article  of  coarse 
cottons,  we  advance  slowly,  is  equally  true.  And  it 
would  not  be  very  extraordinary,  from  the  present 
state  of  the  exchange  on  England,  if  we  should  be 
once  more  drained  of  our  specie,  and  again  make 
retrograde  movements. 

We  are  now  in  the  situation  of  the  crew  of  a  vessel 
at  sea,  caught  wholly  unprepared  in  a  sudden  storm, 

3 


18 

in  which  she  has  received  severe  injury  in  her  masts, 
spars,  and  rig£:!;ing;  has  had  a  serious  escape  from 
shipvireck ;  and  been  driven  out  of  her  course  hundreds 
of  miles.  The  storm  subsides-the  crew  patch  up  their 
sails,  rigging,  he. — and  get  slowly  under  weigh.  They 
soon  forget  their  sufferings — sing  haileluias  for  their  de- 
liverance— but,  not  admonished  by  their  misfortunes, 
make  no  preparation  against  another  storm,  al- 
though there  are  in  the  horizon  strong  symptoms  of 
its  approach — and,  when  it  begins  to  rage,  are  as  little 
prepared  to  meet  it  as  before. 

Such  is  our  course  of  proceeding. 

It  may  not  be  improper  incidentally  to  notice  the 
reason  why  the  manufacture  of  coarse  cottons  has 
gained  ground  so  rapidly.  The  duty  varies,  accord- 
ing to  the  price,  from  50  to  90  per  cent — and  has 
been  found  absolutely  prohibitory.  That  happy  con- 
sequence has  resulted,  which  such  a  system  rarely 
fails  to  produce.  The  manufacture  is  carried  on  with 
so  many  advantages — the  goods  are  so  excellent  and 
cheap — so  far  superior  to  the  articles  imported — and 
their  reputation  is  so  completely  established — that  the 
rival  articles  from  Europe  and  the  East  Indies  cannot 
be  introduced  without  loss. 

From  the  present  gleam  of  prosperity  elaborate  ef- 
forts are  made  to  prove  that  our  policy  has  been  per- 
fectly sound  and  wise  ;  that  those  who  believe  it  radi- 
cally wrong  and  pernicious,  are  utterly  incorrect  in 
their  views ;  that  all  the  censures  cast  on  it  were 
unjust  and  unfounded;  and,  notwithstanding  the 
millions  of  dollars  sacrificed  since  the  peace  by  the  ruin 
of  princely  establishments,  that  manufactures  have  been 
adequately  protected.  And  indeed  some  of  our  newspa- 
per critics  and  editors  go  so  far  as  to  assert,  that  our 
situation  is  highly  prosperous,  and  that  the  contrary 
statements  are  purely  the  result  of  sinister  views,  or 
the  wild  ravings  of  the  gloomy  and  discontented. 

To  prove  the  utter  fallacy  of  these  gratuitous  asser- 
tions, it  would  be  sufficient  to  refer  to  the  melancholy 


19 

and  distressed  situation  of  the  great  states  of  Ohio, 
Kentucky,  and  Tennessee,  containing  a  population  of 
l,568,564souls — and  likewise  to  the  interiour  of  New- 
York  and  Pennsylvania,  nearly  as  gloomy.  The  aggre- 
gate of  those  parts  of  the  two  last,,  widi  the  whole  of  the 
other  three  states,  make  nearly  a  fourth  of  the  popu- 
lation of  the  union — and  surely  such  glowing  des- 
criptions of  prosperity  are  utterly  incompatible  with  the 
extreme  suffering  of  so  large  a  proportion  of  the  whole 
number  of  our  citizens. 

As  this  is  a  point  of  great  importance,  I  must  be 
pardoned  for  shedding  a  little  more  light  on  it.  For 
if  the  assertions  of  these  gentlemen  be  entitled  to  cre- 
dit, then  no  alteration  of  our  system  can  be  necessary. 
It  is  therefore  incumbent  on  those  who  disbelieve  in 
them,  to  remove  all  doubt  of  their  inaccuracy.  Should 
this  point  not  be  established,  then  all  that  is  written 
on  this  side  of  the  (juestion  is  worse  than  useless. 

At  the  last  session  of  congress,  there  was  a  consid- 
erable diversity  of  sentiment  on  the  proper  means  to 
supply  the  great  deficiency  of  revenue.  Many  mem- 
bers, regarding  it  as  disgraceful,  ina  time  of  profound 
peace,  after  six  years  cessation  of  war,  to  have  re- 
course to  loans,  were  in  favour  of  direct  taxes  ;  others 
advocated  an  excise.  The  committee  of  ways  and 
means,  whose  proper  province  it  was,  to  investigate 
the  subject,  pronounced  this  decision  on  it : — 

"  The  imposition  oF  an  excise  at  this  season  of  extreme 
*'  distress^  would  be  unwise,  and  is  not  dtrmanded  by  the 
"  state  of  the  treasury.  If  imposed,  it  would  be  difficult  to 
"  collect:  and,  if  collected,  it  would  in  some  parts  of  the 
*'  union,  be  in  paper  little  available." 

"  Not  demanded  by  the  state  of  the  treasury, ^^  This 
is  really  a  most  extraordinary  declaration,  and  proves 
how  very  superficially  public  bodies  are  in  the  habit  of 
considering  the  subjects  on  which  they  have  to  de- 
cide, and  how  flippantly  unqualified  assertions  are  ha- 
zarded, which  cannot  stand  the  test  of  a  moment's  ex- 


amination.  A  great  deficiency  had  occurred  in  the  re- 
venue the  preceding  year,  1820  ;  three  miUions  of  dol- 
lars had  been  borrowed — the  sinking  fund  had  beendi- 
verted  to  discharge  the  current  expenses— the  secre- 
tary of  the  treasury's  report  stated  a  deficiency  of 
four  or  five  millions  for  the  year  1821 :  in  a  word,  the 
financial  department  presented  the  most  gloomy  as- 
pect— and  yet,  wonderful  to  tell,  the  committee  of  ways 
and  means  had  no  hesitation  in  coming  forward  with 
great  gravity,  and  asserting  that  the  imposition  of  an 
excise  was  "  not  demanded  by  the  state  of  the  trea- 
sury.^^  Had  there  been  a  balance  of  a  few  millions 
of  dollars  in  the  treasury,  or  had  they  predicated 
the  rejection  of  the  proposition  for  an  excise  on  "ifA<? 
extreme  distress^''  of  the  nation,  and  the  utter  im- 
possibility of  collecting  it  in  the  western  states,  and 
in  the  western  portion  of  the  states  of  Pennsylvania 
and  New- York,  they  would  have  declared  the  truth, 
and  nothing  but  the  truth.  But  when  they  announce 
that  an  alarming  deficiency  in  "  the  state  of  the  trea- 
sury^'' did  not  "  demand  the  imposition  of  an  ex- 
cise," or  the  adoption  of  some  other  mode  of  taxation, 
then  thty  unhappily  and  unguardedly  committed 
themselves  by  an  unfounded  declaration,  liable  to  de- 
tection by  the  most  superficial  observer. 

The  preceding  appalling  view  of  the  state  of  the 
country,  extorted  from  a  committee  of  congress,  is  not 
of  very  ancient  date.  It  was  reported  on  the  6th  of 
February,  1821,  only  a  few  weeks  before  the  promul- 
gation of  those  glowing  descriptions  of  our  prosperity, 
to  which  it  forms  so  striking  a  contrast.  The  transi- 
tion from  "  extreme  distress,'''*  to  its  opposite,  '■^national 
prosperity^''''  is  a  child  of  slow  growth,  which  cannot 
be  called  into  premature  existence  by  the  magic  wand 
of  newspaper  essayists. 

To  prove  that  I  have  not  exaggerated  the  distress 
of  the  interior  of  New- York,  I  quote  the  declara- 
tions of  Samuel  Hopkins,  Esq.  of  Moscow,  in  Genesee 


21 

county,  a  gentleman  of  high  respectability,  and  one  of 
the  judges  of  that  state.  They  were  delivered  in  an 
address  to  an  agricultural  society,  so  lately  as  the  18th 
of  October,  1820. 

"  We  have  probably  four  or  five  hundred  thousand  dol- 
**  lars  of  annual  interest  accumulating  against  us,  of  our  land 
"  debt — exclusive  of  our  commercial  debt. — And  so  total- 
"  ly  has  money  disappeared,  that  it  may  be  doubted  whether 
**  there  is  in  this  district  enough  to  pay  the  interest  on  the 
*'  amount  of  interest.  We  may  be  said  to  have  but  three 
"  articles  of  any  moment  for  exportation — ^namely,  flour, 
**  cattle,  and  potashes  ;  and  as  far  as  I  know,  the  depression 
*'  in  the  prices  of  these  is  without  a  parallel.  Last  year  we 
*'  talked  of  the  difficulty  of  paying  for  our  lands.  This  year 
"  the  question  is  how  to  exist.  The  struggle  is  not  now  for 
'"''  property. — From  this  time  onward  we  shall  have  to  con- 
**  tend  for  clothing"^  and  a  few  other  necessaries^  without 
**  which  we  must  become  a  miserable,  and  I  fear  a  barbarous 
*'  people. 

"  The  cities  are  eating  up  their  capital ;  the  country  is 
"  wearing  out  clothes,  without  sufficient  means  to  get  new 
"  ones,  either  by  manufacture  or  purchase.  Meantime  our 
**  importations  go  on.  Specie  is  plenty  in  a  few  hands — 
**  but  the  country  at  large,  though  overflowing  with  abun- 
**  dance  of  its  products,  has  nothing  with  which  to  buy 
"  money— an^  all  the  ordinary  pursuits  of  life  are  palsied 
*•''  for  -want  of  a  medium  of  exchange,'''' 

One  more  proof,  "  to  make  assurance  doubly  sure." 
The  secretary  of  the  treasury,  some  time  previously, 
presented  an  equally  gloomy  picture,  in  a  report,  bear- 
ing date  February  12,  1 820.  *'  Few  examples  have  oc~ 
**  curved^  cfa  distress  so  general  and  so  severe,  as  that 
**  which  has  been  exhibited  in  the  United  States.'''* 

Assuming,  then,  as  beyond  all  doubt,  that  a  degree 
of  "  extreme  distress"  has  "  been  exhibited  in  the 
United  States,"  "  so  general  and  so  severe,"  that 
"  few"  similar  *'  examples  have  occurred  ;"  believing 
that  it  is  still  felt  by  no  small  portion  of  our  citizens — 
and  further,  that  in  a  country  where  ninety-nine  of  the 
agriculturists  out  of  every  hundred,  own  the  soil  they 


22 

cultivate,  and  where  every  man  is  free  to  follow  wha^ 
trade  or  business  he  chooses,  such  distress  must  neces* 
sarily  be  the  result  of  an  unwise  and  pernicious  policy* 
the  investigation  I  have  proposed  to  make,  must  be  sea- 
sonable and  proper.  Previously  to  entering  on  this 
discussion,  I  request  the  attention  of  the  reader  to  a 
digression  on  the  state  of  a  portion  of  Europe. 


CHAPTER  II. 

Our  situation  improperly  likened  to  that  of  Europe, 
Long  wars  and  enormous  expenditures  of  Great  Bri- 
tain. Revenue  of  England  for  1821.  Taxes  in  Scot- 
land. Profits  of  the  cotton^  ivoollen^  linen  and  leather 
manufactures.  Annual  burdens  of  the  United 
States. 

Among  the  means  used  to  lull  us  asleep,  and  divert 
our  attention  from  investigating  the  causes  of,  or  reme- 
dies for,  the  "  extreme  distress,"  stated  by  the  secre- 
tary, the  most  remarkable  is,  the  reference  to,  and 
comparison  with,  the  state  of  Europe.  We  have  for 
seven  years  been  gravely  told,  that  all  the  nations  of 
that  quarter  of  the  globe  are  in  a  state  of  suffering,  and 
that  we  have  no  right  to  expect  on  exemption. 

Were  all  the  nations  of  Europe  really  in  a  state  of 
suffering  and  misery,  as  is  thus  confidently  asserted, 
the  inference  would  be  unfair  and  illogical — as  rea- 
sons might  readily  be  assigned  for  their  distress,  which 
do  not  exist  in  the  United  States.  Among  these  may 
be  stated  the  extreme  length  and  dreadful  calamities 
of  their  wars — their  heavy  debts — their  burdensome 
and  oppressive  establishments  in  church  and  state,  &c. 

It  is  not  necessary  to  enter  into  an  investigation  of 
the  situation  of  all  the  countries  in  Europe  to  prove 
the  unsoundness  of  the  assumption  of  general  distress, 


25 

and  the  want  of  foundation  of  the  inference,  which  has 
been  drawn,  even  had  the  assumption  been  war- 
ranted by  fact.  I  shall  confine  myself  to  three  nations, 
which  occupy  a  considerable  space  on  the  trading  and 
commercial  stage — England,  France,  and  Holland — 
the  first  and  last  actually  in  a  state  of  suffering,  the 
other  in  a  state  of  high  prosperity. 

Great  Britain  was  above  twenty  years  at  war.  Her 
expenses  were  enormous  beyond  all  example,  in  an- 
cient or  modern  times.  She  subsidized,  at  different 
periods,  nearly  all  the  monarchs  of  Europe.  That 
she  should  now  reap  the  fruits  of  this  extravagant  ex- 
penditure, is  not  very  extraordinary.  Indeed,  if  she 
did  not,  it  would  be  absolutely  miraculous. 

To  enable  the  reader  to  form  an  idea  of  the  proper 
connexion  of  cause  and  effect,  I  present  a  view  of 
her  expenditure. 

From  the  commencement  of  the  war  in  1 793, 
till  the  vear  1812,  her  loans  amounted  to      _^  453,617,455* 

In  1813, 64,000,0001 

Her  revenue  I  estimate  at  £  40,000,000:}: 
per  annum,  amounting  in  twenty  years  to     -    800,000,000 

£  1,317,617,455 

Equal  to  about  $  5,829,000,000 

Thus  she  expended  about  290,000,000  of  dollars 
per  annum,  for  twenty  years,  while  our  expenses  did 
not  exceed  60,000,000  per  annum,  for  two  years  and 
a  half — and  yet,  wonderful  to  tell !  our  distress  is 
traced  to  the  same  source  as  hers  !  It  is  difficult  to 
conceive  of  a  much  greater  absurdity. 

But  this  is  far  from  the  whole  of  the  discrepancy. 

*  Colquhoun  on  the  wealth,  power,  and  resources  of  the  Bri- 
tish Empire,  page  50. 

t  Idem,  page.  53. 

I  The  revenue  in  1813,  was  £  63,500,000.  I  might  there- 
fore safely  assume  45,  or  50,000,000/.  per  annum,  for  the  whole 
period.  But  to  avoid  cavil,  I  choose  to  be  under  the  real 
sum. 


24 

Her  present  annual  burdens  are  above  four  times  as 
much  as  our  national  debt.  The  following  is  a  state  of 
her  revenue  for  the  year  ending  October,  1821. 

Customs, £  8,765,865 

Excise, 26/iri,365 

Stamps, 6,145,986 

Post-office, i,331,000 

Assessed  taxes,     -         -         -         -         -  6,297,777 

Land  taxes, 1,217,856 

.  Misceilaneous, 297,954 

Total  revenue,     £  50,528,801 

Other  burdens  on  the  nation. 

Poor  tax,  1820,  .         .         -         -  8,719,655 

Tithes,  supposed, 10,000,000* 

Rents,  do 20,000,000* 

£  89,248,456 


Equal  to  about       -         -         -         -         jg  400,000,000 

These  contributions  are  raised  in  England  pro- 
per, of  which  the  population  is  only  12,000,000  of 
souls. 

The  taxes  collected  in  1815,  in  Scotland  alone,  of 
which  the  population  is  only  about  2,000,000  of  souls, 
were  ^4,155,599,1  equal  to  about  18,000,000  of 
dollars,  which  is  more  than  the  sum  that  the  United 
States,  containing  a  population  of  9,600,000  persons, 
had  to  raise  the  last  and  preceding  year,  and  which 
could  not  be  raised  without  having  recourse  to  loans 
for  nearly  a  fourth  part  of  the  whole. 

Instead,  therefore,  of  wondering  at  the  extensive 
sufferings  of  the  people  of  England,  the  mind  is  lost 

*  These  sums  are,  as  must  be  obvious,  mere  estimates,  and 
may  be  greatly  overrated.  All  my  endeavours  to  procure 
correct  information  on  the  subject,  have  been  in  vain.  But 
whatever  reduction  they  may  be  liable  to,  will  not  materially 
affect  the  question. 

}  Colquhoun,  page  256, 


25 

in  astonishment  how  they  can  support  such  burdens  at 
all.  Nothing  could  enable  tliem  to  do  it,  but  the  im- 
mense advanta^i^es  they  derive  from  machinery  and 
manufactures,  whereby  they  are  enabled  to  lay  a  large 
portion  of  the  civilized  world  under  contribution. 

It  may  not  be  improper  to  present  to  the  reader  a 
slight  view  of  those  advantages.  The  difference  in  the 
year  1814  in  four  of  them,  between  the  cost  of  ihe 
raw  materials  and  the  value  of  the  ariicles  produced 
from  them,  which  may  all  be  fairly  assumed  as  clear 
national  profit,  was  no  less  than  63,000,000/.  sterlings 
equal  to  above  270,000,000  dollars. 

Proceeds  of 

Cotton  manufacture,  £  29,000,000 

Woollen,         -  -  -  26,000,000 


Linen,         ...  15,000,000 

Leather,         -         -         -  15,000.000 


Raw  materials  of  the 

Cotton,  cost         -  -                6,000,000 

Woollen,          _          .  -            8,000,000 

Linen,          -         .  -         -      5,000,000 

Leather           .         -  _          3,000,000 


£  85,000,000 


22,000,000 


£  63,:  00,000* 

Thus  it  appears  that  the  manufacture  multiplies 
the  value  of  the  raw  materials  of  woollen  goods  above, 
and  of  linen  exactly,  three  fold — of  cottoti  nearly,  and 
of  leather  fully,  five  fold. 

In  the  city  of  Glasgow,  and  its  neighbourhood,  the 
amount  of  cotton  goods  manufactured  in  one  year 
was  5,000,000/.  equal  to  22,000,000  of  dollars. t 

*  Colquhoun  on  the  wealth,  power,  and  resources  of  the 
British  Empire,  page  91. 

t  "  By  a  computation,  from  data  collected  with  great  care, 
"  it  appears  that  in  the  year  ending  May  1818,  there  were 
"  105,000,000  of  yards  of  cotton  cloth  of  all  descriptions,  ma- 
"  nufactured  in  Cilasgow,  and  the  neighbourhood,  the  value  of 

4 


26 

This  is  the  true  secret  of  the  "  wealth,  power,  and 
resources"  of  Great  Britain  ;  these  are  the  means  by 
which  she  has  been  enabled  to  support  the  enormous 
and  unprecedented  expenses  of  the  late  war,  to  subsi- 
dize so  many  of  the  monarchs  of  Europe,  and  to  bear 
enormous  burdens,  the  twentieth  part  of  which  is  here 
found  so  very  oppressive.  And  without  pretending 
to  the  spirit  of  prophecy,  it  may  be  asserted  that  the 
United  States  will  never  attain  that  high  degree  of 
prosperity  and  resources  to  which  their  manifold 
blessings,  natural,  moral,  and  political,  entitle  them, 
\intil  they  adopt  the  policy  which  produces  such  salu- 
tary effects. 

I  hope  a  slight  reflection  on  the  above  facts  will 
satisfy  every  person  whose  mind  is  open  to  convic- 
tion, that  the  idea  so  confidently  promulgated,  that 
because  Great  Britain  suffers,  our  sufferings  were 
inevitable,  is  wholly  untenable. 

I  now  present  a  view  of  the  burdens  borne  by  the 
citizens  of  the  United  States  in  the  year  1820. 

Customs, S  12,449,556 

Arrears  of  internal  taxes,        -         -  -  104,172 

Arrears  of  direct  tax.,              .          -  -  31,286 

Postage  and  other  incidental  expenses  63,659 

Support  of  the  poor,  supposed,       -  -  1,500,000 

Support  of  the  clergy,              -         .  -  2,250,000 

Rents  of  land,  supposed,         -         -  -  1,500,000 

Support  of  state  governments,  2,500,000 


SS  20,398,673 

There  are  two  items  of  revenue  in  the  secretarv's 
report,  which  I  have  not  included — as  they  cannot 
be  said  to  be  burdens  on  our  citizens.  I  mean  the  bo- 
nus from  the  bank,  1,000,000  dollars,  and  the  amount 
of  the  sales  of  lands,  81,635,871. 

"  which  was  estimated  to  be  5,000,000i!. ;  and  that  of  the  goods 
"  about  one  half  was  exported.''  Supplement  to  the  Encyclo- 
pedia Britannica,  Vol.  Ill,  Part  II.  page  404. 


27 

How  strong  and  striking  the  contrast!  The  burden 
of  each  person  in  England  averages  above  thirty- 
three  dollars  per  annum — whereas  ours  is  less  than 
two  dollars  and  a  half ! 

Among  the  extravagant  ideas  to  which  the  discussion 
of  the  proposed  tariff  has  given  rise,  and  heaven  knows 
the  number  has  been  immodeKately  large,  there  is  none 
more  extraordinary  than  that  which  ascribes  the  suf- 
ferings of  England  to  her  protecting  system,  wholly 
overlooking  the  effects  of  the  enormous  expenditure 
stated  in  the  preceding  pages.  Incredible  as  it  may 
appear,  it  is  nevertheless  strictly  true,  that  this  idea 
has  been  very  frequently  adduced  in  memorials  to 
congress — in  newspaper  essays — and  not  very  indi- 
rectly even  in  Mr.  Cambreleng's  extolled  Examination 
of  the  tariff. 

"  In  answer  to  those  who  ascribe  our  distress  to  a  want  of 
"  protection  to  our  cioinestic  industry,  we  may  say  that  no 
'*■  nation  on  earth,  complains  more  bitterly  and  loudly  than 
•■'  England,  in  the  full  enjoyment  of  all  the  blessings  of  a 
"  system  protecting  industry  zuith  bounties  and  monopolies. ''^^^ 

Now,  I  will  suppose  that  Mr.  Cambreleng's  profits 
were  500  or  1000  per  cent,  as,  however  incredible  it 
may  seem,  he  has  slated  the  mercantile  profits  of  '''"for- 
mer times]^'''*  and  that  he  gained  annually  50,000  dol- 
lars —-but  expended  100,000 — ran  himself  in  debt,  and 
had  a  heavy  amount  of  interest  accumulating  against 
him — or  that  a  farmer  whose  lands  produced  SI 000 

*  Examination,  pac!;c  17. 

t  Mr.  Cambreleng's  calculations  of  profits  must  make  the 
reader  stare  with  astonishment — "  Were  it  possible  to  unfold 
"  the  mysteries  of  the  commerce  of  the  Indian  and  Pacific 
"  Oceans,  the  Chinese,  and  the  South  Seas,  during  the  last 
"  thirty  years,  it  would  no  longer  be  a  matter  of  surprise  to  sec 
«  our  merchants  with  capitals  of  500,000,  1,000,000,  2,000,000, 
"  and  3,000,000  of  dollars.  Their  profits  were,  in  former  times ^ 
"frequently  five  hundred  or  one  thoumnd  per  cent!'- — Rismn 
teneatis,  amici  ? — Idem,  p^ge  172. 


28 

per  annum, expended  2000 — would  it  be  fair  or  right  to 
charge  the  distress,  embarrassment,  and  difficulties  of 
either  merchant  or  farmer,  to  the  commerce  of  the  one 
or  the  agriculture  of  the  other  ?  Surely  not.  And  is 
it  not  equally  absurd  to  charge  the  embarrassments 
of  England  lo  that  feature  of  her  policy  which  has  been 
the  grand  source  of  her  riches,  and  the  means  of  ob- 
taining for  her  an  ascendency  in  the  affiiirs  of  Europe, 
so  far  beyond  that  to  which  her  natural  resources  en- 
tide  her  ? 

There  is  one  additional  reason  for  the  sufferings  of 
the  English  nation,  to  which  little  attention  has  been 
paid.  Machinery  has  been  carried  to  such  a  degree 
of  perfection  as  to  supersede  a  large  portion  of  the 
manual  labour  of  the  country,  and  to  deprive  the  work- 
men of  employment.  An  eighth  part,  therefore,  of 
the  population  of  England  proper,  is  by  these  means 
obliged  to  depend  in  whole  or  in  part  for  subsistence 
on  the  overseers  of  the  poor.  To  add  to  their  dis- 
tress, they  are,  either  by  poverty,  or  the  rigour  of  the 
laws  at^ainst  the  emigration  of  mechanics,  debarred 
from  theo|)portunity  of  bettering  their  condition  abroad; 
Hence  a  moderate  share  of  common  sense  will  satisfy 
every  man  of  reflection,  thai  highly-improved  machi- 
nery, which,  in  countries  thinly  peopled,  such  as  the 
United  States,  is  a  blessing  of  the  first  order,  operates 
perniciously  in  countries  of  dense  population  like  Eng- 
land. The  reason  is  obvious.  In  the  one  country, 
when  industry  is  properly  protected,  the  want  of  la- 
bourers is  severely  felt — in  the  other,  they  are  al- 
most always  too  numerous  for  the  demand. 


29 


CHAPTER  III. 

JFars  a7id  sacrifices  of  France.  Subjugation.  Resusci- 
tation of  her  resources  and  prosperity.  Causes  of 
the  change.  Tariff  of  Napoleon.  Policy  and 
tariff  of  Louis  XVIII.  No  fears  of  taxing  the 
many  for  the  benefit  of  the  few. 

France,  like  Great  Britain,  was  at  war  for  twenty 
years,  a  part  of  the  time  against  half  of  Europe.  Her 
expenses  and  sacrifices  were  enormous.  The  war  was 
finally  closed  by  subjugation,  and  prostration  under 
various  hostile  armies,  of  different  nations,  all  embit- 
tered, and  infuriated  by  the  injuries  inflicted  on  their 
respective  countries  during  the  supremacy  of  France. 
For  two  or  three  years  their  ravages  were  like  those  of 
the  Egyptian  locusts.  A  military  contribution  of  about 
S  100,000,000,  added  to  the  support  of  these  victo- 
rious armies,  capped  the  climax  of  her  sufferings. — 
And  what,  after  all  these  exhausting  scenes,  is  her  pre- 
sent situation  !  Every  account  received  of  her  affairs, 
worthy  of  credit,  whether  from  European  or  American 
travellers,  pourtrays  them  in  the  most  prosperous  state. 
Her  debt  is  sunk  down  so  low,  as  to  afford  hope  of  its 
being  extinguished  in  a  few  years.  Her  agriculture, 
manufactures  and  commerce,  are  in  a  most  flourishing 
state — her  people  are  almost  universally  and  usefully- 
employed — Her  revenue  exceeds  her  expenses-^ — and 
some  of  the  most  obnoxious  taxes  are  repealed.  In 
one  word,  while  the  United  States  were  retrograding 
in  1816,  lt>17,  1818,  1819  and  1820,  France  was  ma- 
king  rapid  advances  in  the  high  road  to  prosperity. 

The  radical  difference  in  the  policy  of  the  two  na- 
tions is,  that  she  regarded  the  employment  of  her  peo- 
ple in  manufactures  as  a  grand  national  object,  the  only 
point  of  light  in  which  it  ought  to  be  viewed.  Where- 


30 

as  the  question  was  scarcely  ever  thought  of  here,  but 
through  the  narrow  contracted  medium  of  procuring 
goods  abroad  cheaper  than  they  could  be  had  at  home. 
In  this  way,  our  treasures  have  been  lavished  in 
China,  Great  Britain,  France,  and  Germany,  while  so 
many  of  our  own  citizens  were  devoted  to  idleness, 
and  penury,  and  exposed  to  the  seductions  of  vice  and 
crime. 

The  minister  of  finance,  in  a  report  made  on  the 
1st  of  February  1821,  to  Louis  XVIII.  thus  accounts 
for  the  prosperity  of  France,  and  the  flourishing  state 
of  her  finances. 

"  The  fabrication  of  every  thing  necessary  for  the  con- 
"  sumption  of  the  population^  being  exclusively  confined  to 
*'  the  notion^  France  has  been  in  a  situation  to  extend  her 
*•'  consumption,  which  has  gone  on  increasing  from  year  to 
*'  year  :"  and  in  proof  he  states  the  consumption  of  "  cofFee, 
"  salt,  and  cotton-wool,  the  last  year,  1820,  which  has  pro- 
*'  duced  to  the  treasury  an  increase  of  revenue  of  18,000,000 
"  of  francs,"*  equal  to  about  3,600,000  dollars. 

The  following  extracts  from  the  speech  of  the 
King  of  Fiance  to  the  Legislature  at  its  recent  ses- 
sion, afford  a  gratifying  view  of  the  prosperity  result- 
ing from  the  restrictive  system,  and  amply  corrobo- 
rate the  preceding  statements. 

"If  we  take  a  view  of  our  domestic  state,  what  motives 
"  have  we  not  to  bless  Providence  !   The  sensible  progress 

*  "  Tons  les  etats  d'Europe,  (a  I'exceplion  de  la  France), 
"  eprouvent  le  meme  defaut  [de  finances]  :  et  pour  quelle 
•'  raison  ?  M.  Roy,  ministre  des  finances,  repondra  pour  nous, 
"  dans  le  rapport  qu'il  a  fait  a  ce  sujet,  le  ler  Fevrier  dernier  a 
"  Louis  XVIII.  "  C/est  que  la  fabrication  de.  tons  lea  objects 
"  necessuires  a  la  consommation  de  la  nation  Hant  exclusive meni 
"  reservee  a  la  nation,  celle-ci  a  ete  en  etat  de  faire  une  plus 
"  grande  conr.ommation  ;  et  que  cette  consommation  allait 
"  crcissant  d'annee  en  annee :  et  il  a  donne  pour  preuve  cclle 
"  des  cafes,  des  scls,  des  cototis  en  laine,  de  I'annec  dcrniere,  qui 
♦'  a  procure  au  tresor  une  angmentatiun  de  revenns  de  18,000,000 
"  de  francs.''^  Considerations  snr  le  2}rojet  de  loi  concernant  le  nuu- 
veau  systeme  dii  Royainne  de  Pays  Has.  I'ag-e  41.  .'J  Hruxelles, 
•27  Juin,  1821. 


31 

"  of  industiy,  agriculture,  and  the  arts,  attests  tliat  of  com- 
*'merce;  and  very  soon  new  channels  will,  by  multiplying 
*'  the  means  of  communication  and  traffic,  extend  the  gene- 
"ral  good  to  all  parts  of  the  kingdom. 

"  The  prosperity  of  the  finances^  the  intelligible  exposition 
*'  of  the  public  accounts,  and  fidelity  to  engagements,  have 
"  consolidated  public  credit,  and  increased  the  resources 
''''ofthe  state* 

*'  Our  auspicious  situation,  and  the  return  of  internal  and 
"  external  tranquillity,  have  already  admitted  of  a  diminution 
*■'•  in  one  of  the  viost  oneroxis  ofthe  taxes — that  which  marks 
*'  reproduction  in  its  source,  by  overcharging  landed  pro- 
*'  pcrty.  Next  year  those  so  assessed  will  wholly  enjoy  this 
"  reduction." 

On  the  27th  of  Nov.  1821,  the  Minister  of  France 
laid  before  the  Chamber  of  Deputies  his  annual  re- 
port, Avhich,  after  stating  the  receipts  of  the  trea- 
sury for  one  year  at  890,000,000  francs,  and  the  ex- 
penditures at  889,500,000  francs,  thus  casts  an  ex- 
ulting glance  at  the  situation  of  France. 

"  Such  a  result  of  the  termination  of  calamities,  which  in 
"  any  other  country  an  age  would  scarcely  be  sufficient  to 
"  efface,  evinces  among  us  resources  triumphant  over  the 
"  most  adverse  situations.  What  other  nation  besides  France 
"  would  be  able,  after  what  she  has  suffered,  even  up  to 
"1818,  by  war  and  other  unhappy  circumstances,  to  pre- 
"  sent  in  three  years  the  spectacle  which  she  this  day  offers  ? 
"  Her  political  engagements  punctually  fulfilled;  her  territory 
'•''free  and  tranquil ;  her  comw.erce  and  industory  increasing 
*'■  in  activity;  her  treasury  ahvays  full;  her  securities  ad' 
"  vancing  to  par  ;  all  h^r  capital  in  employment^  -whether  to 
"  acquire^  to  construct^  to  repair,  or  to  give  an  impulse  to 
*'  works  of  public  utility." 

Thus,  we  see,  that  while  our  revenue  has  been 
gradually  diminishing,  that  of  France  has  been  rapid- 
ly increasing.  The  impoverishment  of  the  United 
States  by  the  payment  for  the  enormous  importations 
of  1815,  16,  17,  and  18,  has  for  two  or  three  years 
past,  disabled  our  citizens  from  purchasing  as  freely  as 
they  were  wont  to  do.     Our  importations  have  great- 


32 

ly  diminished,  and  those  for  a  large  part  of  the  western 
country  almost  wholly  ceased.  The  impost  has  in  con- 
sequence been  proportionably  reduced. 

Every  year  of  our  experience  corroborates  the 
soundness  of  the  policy  advocated  by  Alexander 
Hamilton  in  his  very  cekbrated  report  on  Manufac- 
tures, the  most  valuable  publication  on  this  topic,  I 
repeat,  produced  in  any  age  or  nation. 

*'  There  is  no  truth^''  says  he^  '•'•  which  may  be  7noreJirnf 
"  ly  relied  upon  than  that  the  interests  of  the  revenue  are  pro- 
"  moted  by  -whatever  promotes  an  increase  of  national  indus- 
"  try  and  wealth.'^ 

The  converse  of  this  proposition  is  as  true  as  if  dic- 
tated by  inspiration.  The  interests  of  the  revenue  are 
impaired  by  whatever  diminishes  national  industry 
and  wealth.  France  proves  the  one— -we  prove  the 
other  position.  The  time  will  come  when  we  shall 
feel  and  act  upon  these  truths.  But  how  long  we  shall 
continue,  as  we  have  done  for  years  past,  to  waste 
our  energies  and  resources,  for  the  benefit  of  foreign 
nations,  omniscience  alone  can  determine. 

It  remains  to  develop  that  course  of  sound  policy 
which  has  raised  France  so  triumphantly  from  her 
prostrate  state,  and  enabled  her  to  attain  that  high  de- 
gree of  prosperity  which  she  now  enjoys. 

Napoleon's  tariff,  now  before  me,  excluded  a  large 
portion  of  those  articles  that  could  be  produced  in  his 
own  dominions :  and  most  of  the  others  of  that  descrip- 
tion were  burdened  with  very  high  duties.  There 
were  above  one  hundred  and  twenty  articles  absolutely 
prohibited.  In  consequence,  the  industry  of  the  na- 
tion was  fully  employed.  It  not  only  preserved  its 
wealth  from  being  squandered  abroad  to  purchase 
what  could  be  made  at  home,  but  laid  other  nations 
under  contribution  by  its  manufactures — and  hence 
the  resources  of  the  nation  were  constantly  increas- 
ing, even  during  the  continuance  of  a  most  devour- 
ing warfare.      Moreover  Bonaparte,  while   engaged 


33 

in  his  extensive  plans  of  conquest  and  subjugation 
promoted  manufactures  by  every  means  in  liis  pow- 
er— and  even  went  so  far  as  to  lend  supplies  ol  money 
to  manufacturers  at  two  per  cent,  per  annum,*  to  en- 
able them  to  extend  iheir  business.  Will  it  for  a  mo- 
ment be  supposed  that  this  great  sacrifice  was  made  for 
the  sake  of  that  body  of  men,  or  that  their  particular  in- 
terest had  any  influence  over  this  aspiring  and  ambi- 
tious monarch  ?  By  no  means.  Had  they  alone  been 
concerned,  they  would  have  been  regarded  by  him 
with  total  indifference.  His  views  were  far  more 
profound.  He  patronized  them — not  merely  for  the 
wealth  which  their  labour  saved  the  country,  but 
equally  for  that  which  it  drew  from  foreign  nations. 

Let  us  now  view  the  system  of  Louis  XVHL  We 
have  seen  the  enormous  expenditure  of  Great  Britain 
during  the  late  wars,  amounting  to  above  1300,000,000 
pounds  sterling,  equal  to  about  5,700,000,OvyO  of  dol- 
lars, of  which  by  far  the  major  part  was  for  the  purpose 
of  placing  him  on  the  throne  of  his  ancestors.  Never, 
therefore,  had  any  nation  higher  claims  on  the  grati- 
tude of  a  monarch,  than  Great  Britain  on  that  of 
Louis  XVni. — and  it  might  have  been  expected  that 
he  would,  from  motives  of  gratitude,  have  opened  his 
ports  to  the  manufactures  of  that  nation,  as  a  return 
for  its  services  and  sacrifices.  But  regard  for  the  in- 
terests of  his  country  outweighed  all  private  and  per- 
sonal considerations — and  one  of  the  earliest  mea- 
sures of  his  administration  was  to  renew  Bonaparte's 
tariff",  with  some  alterations,  rendering  it  more  severe. 
No  apprehensions  of  failure  of  revenue  deterred  him 
from  the  adoption  of  this  policy — nor  of  smuggling — 
nor  extortion,  nor  any  of  those  other  terrific  objects 
which  exert  an  irresistible  power  over  our  national 
legislature,  and  have  immolated  so  many  millions 
of  money  invested  in  manufactures — bankrupted  so 
many  estimable  men,   who   made   such    strong   ap- 

*  Mr.  Cambreleng's  Examination,  page  102. 
5 


34 

peals  to  congress — -devested  of  employment  so  many 
thousands,  whose  sole  property  lay  in  the  industry 
of  their  hands — and  produced  that  impoverishment 
which  has  arrested  the  nation  in  the  career  of  its  pros- 
perity.— The  temptation  of  "  buying  goods  abroad 
cheaper  than  they  could  be  had  at  home,"  had  no 
weight  with  him.  The  grand  object  was  to  secure 
employment  for  his  subjects — to  protect  their  indus- 
try— and  to  prevent  the  national  wealth  from  being 
lavished  on  foreign  nations.  That  he  has  been  suc- 
cessful, the  actual  state  of  the  kingdom  fully  esta- 
blishes. 

The  celebrated  Chaptal,  ex-minister  of  the  Interior 
under  Bonaparte,  lately  published  a  most  luminous  and 
interesting  view  of  the  policy  of  France  in  regard  to 
manufactures — a  policy  as  foreign  from  ours  as  light 
from  darkness — virtue  from  vice. 

"A  sound  legislation  on  the  subject  of  duties  on  imports,  is 
"  the  true  safeguard  of  agricultural  and  manufacturing  in- 
*'  dustry.  It  raises  or  diminishes  the  duties  according  to  cir- 
"  cumstances  and  the  necessity  of  the  case.  It  countervails 
*'  the  disadvantages  under  which  our  manufactures  labour, 
*'  from  the  difference  of  the  price  of  workmanship  or  fuel. 
«  IT  SHIELDS  THE  RISING  ARTS  BY  PROHI- 
*■'•  BITIONS,  thus  preserving  them  from  the  rivalship  of 
*'  foreigners,  till  they  have  arrived  at  complete  perfection. 
"  It  tends  to  establish  the  national  independence,  and  en- 
*'  riches  the  country  by  useful  labour,  which,  as  I  have  re- 
"  peatedly  said,  is  the  principal  source  of  wealth.":]: 

^  "  Unc  bonne  legislation  de  douanes  est  la  vraie  sauvegarde 
"  de  I'industrie  agricole  et  manufacturiere  ;  elle  eleve  ou  di- 
'•  minue  Ics  droits  aux  frontieres,  selon  les  circonstances  et  les 
"  besoins ;  elle  compense  le  desavantage  que  notre  fabrica- 
"  tion  pent  trouver  dans  le  prix  compare  de  la  main  d'oeuvre 
"  ou  du  combustible ;  elle  protege  les  arts  naissans  par  les  pro- 
"  hibitiona,  pour  ne  les  livrer  a  la  concurrence  avec  les  etrangerSy 
"  que  lursqu^lls  ont  pu  reiinir  tons  les  degres  de  perfection;  elle 
•'  tend  a  assurer  I'independance  industrielle  de  la  France,  et  elle 
"  I'enrichit  dc  la  main  d'oeuvre,  qui,  comme  je  I'ai  dit  plu- 
"  sieurs  fois,  est  la  principale  source  des  richesses."  Chaptnt 
"  sur  V Industrie  Fruncoise,  Vol.  ll.^a^e  417.  Published  1819. 


35 

"  It  has  been  almost  every  where  found,  that  rising 
**  manufactures  are  unable  to  struggle  against  cstabllsh- 
"  ments  cemented  by  time,  nourished  by  numerous  capi- 
*' tals,  with  a  credit  established  by  a  continued  success, 
"and  conducted  by  numbers  of  experienced  and  skilful 
"  artists  :  and  we  have  been  forced  to  have  recourse  to  prohi- 
*'  bU'ions    to  ivard   off  the  competition   of  foreign  produc- 

Such  are  the  principles  of  the  French  policy  on  this 
important  subject.    Now  behold  the  practice — 

"  In  the  commencement,  our  casimers  cost  the  manufac- 
*'  turer  twenty-seven  francs  per  ell — and  the  EngHsh  offered 
"  their's  to  the  consumer  at  half  price.  Cambrics  and  cali- 
*'  coes,  ill  made,  cost  us  from  seven  to  eight  francs  per  ell — 
"  the  English  delivered  their's  at  three  :  ought  we,  then, 
"  to  have  abandoned  these  attempts  at  manufacturing  supe- 
"  riority?  No.  It  was  our  duty  to  persist  and  attain  to 
"  perfection.  This  was  the  course  we  pursued — and  we 
*'  have  arrived  at  such  a  degree  of  perfection  that  our  in- 
"  dustry  excites  the  jealousy  of  the  nation  from  which  it 
*'  has  been  derived. 

"If,  during  the  twelve  or  fifteen  years  in  which  our  ef- 
*^  forts,  our  researches,  and  our  experiments  were  going  on, 
*'  we  had  not  excluded  competition  by  a!}solute  prohibition, 
"  I  ask  of  the  partisans  of  the  fifteen  per  cent,  duty,  what 
"  would  have  become  of  that  delightful  industry,  which  is 
"  now  at  once  the  pride,  the  glory,  and  the  wealth  of 
"  France?"! 

*  "  On  a  eprouve,  presque  partout,  que  des  manufactures 
"naissantes  ne  pouvoient  pas  latter  contre  des  etablissemens 
"  cimentes  par  le  temps,  alimentes  par  de  nombreux  capi- 
"taux,  accredites  par  des  succes  soutenus,  exploites  par  un 
"  grand  concours  d'artistes  instruits  et  exerces  :  et  I'on  a  ete 
"foixe  de  recourir  aux  prohibitions  pour  ecarter  la  concur- 
"rence  des  produits  etrangers." — Idem,  torn.  i.  xlvi. 

t  "  Nos  casimirs  coutoient  25  fr.  I'aune  au  fabricant,  dans  le 
"  principe  ;  et  les  Anglais  offroient  les  leurs  au  consommateur, 
**  a  moitie  prix  ;  les  percalles,  les  calicots,  mal  fabriques,  nous 
♦'  revenoient  a  7  a  8  fr.  I'aune  ;  les  Anglais  les  livroient  a  3  fr. 

"  Falloit-il  renoncer  a  ce  projet  de  conquete  manufacturiere  ? 
'  Non,  il  falloit  persister  et  se  perfectionner.  C'est  aussi  la 
*  m  arche  qu'on  a  suivie  :   et  nous  sommes  arrives  a  un  tel 


36 

A  favourite  idea  with  many  of  the  French  poHtical 
ecoiiomibts,  is,  that  any  manufacture,  which  cannot 
support  itself  when  shielded  by  a  protecting  duty  of 
fifteen  per  cent,  ought  to  be  abandoned.  Such  opin- 
ions prevail  here  very  generally.  M.  Chaptal,  argu- 
ing from  past  experience,  the  true  criterion  of  theories, 
displays  the  fallacy  of  this  idea,  and  the  ruinous  con- 
sequences which  its  adoption  would  not  fail  to  produce. 

*'  I  go  farther.  Even  at  the  present  time,  when  these  va- 
*'  rious  species  of  industry  are  in  a  flourishing  state;  when 
*'  there  is  nothing  to  desire,  with  regard  to  the  price  or 
'  quality  of  our  productions,  a  duty  of  fifteen  per  cent., 
"  which  would  open  the  door  to  the  competition  of  foreiga 
"  fabrics,  would  shake  to  their  foundations  all  the  es- 
*'  taMJshments  which  exist  in  France.  Our  stores  would,  in 
**  a  few  daijs^  he  croivded  with  foreign  merchandize.  It  would 
*'  be  sold  at  any  price,  in  order  to  extinguish  our  industry, 
**  Our  mamfactories  would  be  devoted  to  idleness^  throxigh  the 
**  impossibility  yf  the  proprietors  making  the  same  sacrifices 
**  as  foreigners;  and  we  should  behold  the  same  scenes  as 
**  followed  the  treaty  of  commerce,  1786,  although  it  was 
*'  concluded  on  the  basis  of  fifteen  per  cent."* 

"  degr6  de  perfection,  que  notre  Industrie  excite  aujourd'hui  la 
*'  jalousie  de  la  nation  qui  nous  I'a  transmise. 

"  Si,  pendant  douze  a  quinze  ans  qu'ont  dure  nos  essais,  nos 
«  recherches,  nos  tatonnemens,  on  n'avait  pas  ecarte  du  con- 
"  cours,  par  la  prohibition,  les  produits  etrangers,  je  demande 
*•  aux  partisans  des  15  pour  cent,  ce  que  seroit  devenue  cette 
"  belle  Industrie  qui  fait  I'ornement,  la  gloire  et  la  richesse  de 
"  la  France  ?" — Idem,  Tom  II.  page  431. 

*"  Je  dirai  plus  :  aujourd'hui  que  ces  genres  d'industriesont 
"  florissans,  aujourd'hui  que  nous  n'avons  plus  rien  a  desirer 
"  sous  le  rapport  du  prix  et  de  la  qualite  des  produits,  un  droit 
"  de  15  pour  cent,  qui  ouvriroit  la  concurrence  aux  fabriques 
"  etrangeres,  ebranleroit  jusque  dans  leurs  fondemens  tousles 
"  etablissemens  qui  existent  en  France.  Nos  magasins  seroient 
"  remplis,  en  quelques  jours,  de  marchandises  importees  ;  on  les 
•'  donneroit  a  tout  prix  pour  etouffer  notre  Industrie  ;  nos  manu- 
"  factures  seroient  vouees  a  I'inaction  par  I'impossibilite  ou 
"  sont  les  proprietaires  de  faire  les  memes  sacrifices  que  les 
"  etrangers,  et  nous  verrions  se  reproduirc  ce  qui  est  arrive 
"  apres  le  traite  de  commerce  de  1780,  quoiqu'il  eut  ete 
"  conclu  sur  la  base  de  15  pour  cent."  Idem,  page  432. 


37 


In  April  1816,  the  tariff  underwent  a  new  revision, 
and  the  list  of  prohibited  anicles  was  somewhat  redu- 
ced—but it  still  included  three  fourths  of  the  most 
important  manufactures  and  productions,  with  which 
the  French  are  able  to  supply  themselves. 

I  annex  a  list  of  the  principal 

Articles  of  which  the  importation  into  France  was  pro- 
hibited by  the  tariff  of  1816. 


Manufactures  ol  stt-el,  except 
instruments  and  mercery 

Manufactures  of  bronze 

Copper  and  brass,  polished 

Pig  iron,  under  400  kilo- 
grames 

Wrought  iron  in  bars,  and 
anvils  and  other  large 
pieces 

Common  sea  salt 

Silk  stuffs  wrought  with  false 
silver,  or  false  gold 

Silk  stuffs,  mixed  with  thread 

Gold  and  silver  gauze 

Silk  lace 

Wove  cotton  goods 

Woollen  cloths 

All  kinds  of  muslins,  dimi- 
ties, Marseilles,  muslinets, 
and  all  other  twilled  stuffs 
made  of  cotton 

Shawls  and  handkerchiefs 

Manufactures  of  plated  gold 
and  silver 

Manufactures  of  skins  and 
leather 

Morocco  leather 

Crockery  and  Liverpool 
ware 

Tobacco  in  the  leaf,  or  in 
stems,  except  for  the  regie 

Wove  stuffs  of  cloth,  fear- 
noughts of  all  kinds  and 
qualities. 


Sht^et  iron,  and  old  iron 

Watches  and  clocks  of  all 
descriptions 

Medals,  counters,  and  pocket 
pieces 

Prepared  medicaments,  pul- 
verized substances,  and 
pharmaceutical  prepara- 
tions 

Kerseymeres  and  other  light 
stuffs 

Rum  and  taffia,  made  of 
molasses,  except  from  the 
French  colonies 

Rack,  made  of  rice 

All  other  kinds  of  spirits, 
made  of  grain,  apples,  &c. 

Cotton  hosiery 

Buttons  of  all  sorts 

Playing  cards 

Nails 

Cotton  yarn  without  any  dis- 
tinction of  numbers 

All  kinds  of  cutlery 

Wrought  rock  crystal 

Manufactures  of  brass,  cop- 
per and  tin 

Gunpowder 

Molasses,  except  from  the 
French  colonies 

Carriages,  new  or  old, mount- 
ed or  otherwise 

Soap,  white,  black  or  mar- 
bled, &c.  &c.  Sic. 


4C9152 


38 

In  1817  the  French  tariff  was  again  revised,  and 
some  other  alterations  made  in  it,  but  all  the  impor- 
tant articles  remain  prohibited  to  this  day — as,  wool- 
lens,  cottons,  sadlery,  manufactures  of  iron,  steel,  brass, 
copper  and  tin,  gunpowder,  fire  arms,  pottery, 
soap,  refined  or  loaf  sugar,  tobacco,  (except  for  the 
regie)  &c.  &c.  &c. 

While  Congress  looked  with  perfect  sang  Jro id  on 
the  annihilation  of  so  many  of  our  manufactures,  the 
sacrifice  of  the  millions  of  dollars  invested  in  the  ma- 
nufactories, and  the  bankruptcy  of  the  proprietors,  in 
1816,  1817,  1818,  1819,  and  1820,  and,  shocking  to 
relate,  and  disgraceful  that  it  should  have  to  be  re- 
lated, did  not  even  condescend  to  hear  the  humble 
supplications  of  the  sufferers  read,  what  a  contrast 
is  formed  by  the  preceding  views  of  the  practice 
and  policy  of  France  on  this  point,  and  the  humane 
considerations  by  which  that  policy  has  been  regu- 
lated !  The  contrast  is  highly  honourable  for  France. 
But  what  is  it  for  the  United  States  ?  The  question 
will  not  bear  to  be  answered. 

Cotton  yarn  may  be  considered  as  a  raw  material  ; 
and  as,  on  general  principles,  raw  materials  are  usually 
admitted  duty  free,  or  at  very  low  duties,  it  might 
perhaps  claim  a  right  of  admission  on  very  easy 
terms.  But  there  are  no  less  than  200,000  persons 
engaged  in  the  manufacture  of  it  in  France — and  this 
consideration  has  induced  the  government  to  prohibit 
it  altogether.  Behold  the  reflections  of  Chaptal  on 
the  subject,  and  let  them  be  contrasted  with  the  opi- 
nions sported  in,  and  the  course  pursued  by,  con- 
gress.— 

"  Cotton  yarn  forms  the  raw  material  of  our  numerous 
"  laces  and  calicoes.  If  we  freely  open  our  ports  to  this  mu- 
"  terial  which  has  undergone  but  a  single  operation,  behold 
*'  the  infallible  results !  One  hundred  millions  [of  livres,  equal 
to  about  eighteen  millio7is  of  dollars']  "  at  present  productive, 
*'  tvoidd  he  destroyed  for  the  spinner^  the  mamfaclurer^  and 
'■^  for  France — because  it  is  invested  in  buildings,  utensils, 


39 

"  and  machinery,  adapted  to  this  purpose  alone — txuo  hini- 
*'  dree!  thousand  persons  tuoidd  be  devested  of  employment — 
*'  80,000,000  [oflivresj  ot  manual  labour  would  be  lost  to 
*'  France, — and  commerce  would  be  deprived  of  one  of  its 
"  principal  resources,  which  consists  in  the  transportation  of 
*'  cotton  wool  from  Asia  and  America  to  France. 

"  Let  it  not  be  presumed  that  I  deceive  myself.  I  am 
*'  well  acquainted  with  the  state  of  our  cotton  spinning,  and 
*'  that  of  the  two  neighbouring  countries.  In  France,  it  is 
*'  true,  manual  labour  is  cheap.  But,  on  the  other  side, 
*'  more  extensive  establishments,  supported  by  large  capi- 
*'  tals,  afford  advantages  against  which  it  is  impossible  for 
*'  us  as  yet  to  struggle.  To  this  must  be  added,  that  the 
"  English  spinning  machinery  has  been  in  use  for  60  years ; 
"  that  the  proprietors  are  indemnified  for  all  the  expen- 
"  ses  of  their  first  establishment ;  that  the  profits  have  been 
"  converted  into  new  capitals  ;  whereas  ours  are  of  recent 
"  formation,  and  the  interest  of  the  first  investments  ought 
*'  for  a  long  time  to  be  computed  in  all  the  calculations  of 
*'  the  profits  of  the  manufacture. 

"  The  English  manufacturer^  reimbursed  for  hisfrst  in- 
"  vest7nents^  and  possessing  a  large  capital^  is  able  to  make 
"  sacrifices  to  overwhelm  a  rival  establishment.  Whereas 
"  the  French  manufacturer  is  destitute  of  defence,  unless 
*'  protected  by  the  tariff.  To  enable  the  industry  of  one 
*'  country  to  compete  with  that  of  another,  it  does  not  suf- 
"  fice  that  the  productions  be  of  the  same  quality — it  is  ne- 
*'  cessary  that  the  process  of  the  manufacture  present  on 
"  each  side  the  same  advantages."* 

*  "  Le  fil  de  coton  foi'me  la  matiere  premiere  dans  nos  nom- 
"  breuses  fabriques  de  tissus  et  d'impression  sur  toile  ;  ouvrez  la 
•'  porte  a  ce  produit  d'une  premiere  operation,  en  voiciles  resul- 
"  tats  infaillibles  :  plus  de  cent  millions  aujourd'hui  productifs, 
*' vont  etre  aneantis  pour  le  fileur,  le  fabricant,  et  la  France ; 
"  parce  qu'ils  ne  consistent  qu'en  batimens,  usines,  et  machines 
"  appropries  a  cc  seul  usage  ;  unc  population  de  deux  cent  mille 
"  ouvriers  va  etre  d'esheritee  de  son  travail ;  environ  quatre  vingt 
"  millions  de  main  d'oeuvre  vont  etre  perdus  pour  la  France  ;  le 
"  commerce  sera  prive  d'une  de  ses  principales  ressources,  qui 
*'  consistent  dans  le  transport  des  colons  de  I'Asie  et  de  I'Ame- 
"  rique  en  France. 

"  Et  qu'on  ne  croie  pas  que  je  me  fasse  illusion ;  je 
"  connois  I'etat  compare  de  nos  filatures  et  de  cclles  de 
"deux  pays  voisins :    ici    une   main   d'oeuvre  plus  economi- 


40  ,         • 

Against  the  importation  even  of  coals,  duty  free, 
M.  Chaptal  presents  the  following  luminous  reasons  : 

*■*'  Coals  are  certainly  a  raw  material.  But  should  we  ad- 
"  mit  them  duty  free,  vre  should  soon  see  closed  those  rich 
"  coal  pits  on  which  such  immense  sums  have  been  expend- 
"  ed,  to  penetrate  the  veins,  and  raise  the  coal  by  steam 
"  engines.  The  low  price  at  which  the  English  can  deliver 
*'  their  coals  in  our  ports,  in  consequence  of  the  facility  of 
"  extraction,  and  the  proximity  of  the  mines  to  the  sea,  af- 
**  ford  them  advantages  which  are  wholly  out  of  our  power 
*'  to  countervail."* 


Such  was  the  policy  of  the  military  despotism  of 
Bonaparte — such  is  the  policy  of  the  reigning  dynas- 
ty— and  such  is  the  provident  care  of  the  national  re- 
sources, and  of  individual  prosperity.     What  Ameri- 

'  que ;  la,  des  etablissemens  plus  considerables,  alimentes 
'  par  de  grands  capitaux,  ferment  des  avantages  centre  Icsquels 
*'  nous  ne  pouvons  pas  luiter  encore.  Ajoutez  a  cela  que  les 
*'  filatures  anglaises  par  mecanique  existent  depuis  soixante 
"  ans  ;  que  les  frais  de  premier  etablissement  sont  rentres  ;  que 
''  les  benefices  ont  cree  denouveaux  capitaux  ;  tandisque  les  fiia- 
*'  tures  fran^oises  ont  ete  formes  de  nos  jours,  et  que  les  inte- 
"  rets  de  la  premiere  mise  de  fends  doivent  etre  compris,  pour 
"  long-temps,  dans  les  benefices  de  la  fabrication.  Lefabricant 
"  anglois,  convert  de  ses  avarices,  riche  de  ses  capitaux,  petit  jaire 
*' des  sacrifices  pour  etouffer  tine  Industrie  rivale  :  le  fabricant 
^^francois  n^a  rien  a  lui  opposer,  si  la  legislation  ne  le  protege. 
"  Pour  que  I'industrie  d'une  nation  puisse  concourir  avec  celle 
*'  d'une  autre,  il  ne  suffit  pas  que  les  produits  soient  de  menie 
"  quality,  il  faut  encore  que  les  moyens  d'executien  presentent, 
*'  des  deux  cotes,  les  memes  avantages."  Idem  page  424. 

*  "  Le  charbon  de  terre  est  certainement  une  matiere  premiere ; 
"  eh  bien  !  qu'on  en  admette  la  libre  importation  sans  payer 
"  aucun  droit  a  I'entree,  nous  verrons  bientot  se  fermer  ces 
"  riches  houilleres  du  nord  et  du  midi  de  la  France,  ou  Ton  a 
"  depensedes  sommesimmenses  pour  penetrer  jusqu'auxfilens, 
"  pour  extraire  I'eau  et  le  charbon  par  des  pompes  a  feu.  Le 
"  bas  prix  auquel  les  Anglois  peuvent  verser  le  charbon  de 
*•  terre  dans  nos  ports,  a  cause  de  la  facilite  d'extraction,  et  de 
*'  proximite  ou  sont  leurs  mines  de  la  mer,  leur  donne  un  avan- 
"  tage  que  nous  ne  pouvons  compenser  d'aucune  maiiiere." — 
Idem,  page  426. 


41 

can  can  make  a  contrast  between  this  policy  and  that 
of  the  United  States,  or  reflect  on  the  urter  disregard 
of  the  ruin  of  their  suffering  fellow  citizens,  which, 
I  repeat — and  it  can  never  be  too  often  repeated — 
has  distinguished  the  proceedings  of  congress  on  this 
vital  topic,  ever  since  the  close  of  the  war,  without 
blushing  for  his  native  country  ?  The  total  loas  of 
millions  of  property — die  ruin  of  magnificent  esta- 
blishmenth — the  bankruptcy  and  distress  of  their 
owners — and  the  calamities  of  the  unfortunate  work- 
men, have  had  no  more  effect,  and  produced  no  more 
sympathy,  at  Washington,  than  the  sufferings  of  so 
many  Greeks  at  Constantinople. 

I  have  now,  from  the  experience  of  a  mighty  nation, 
detailed  the  clear  principle  whereby  the  wealth  of  na- 
tions is  promoted,  as  well  as  its  actual  operation 
and  its  prosperous  result.  The  inference  is  irresistible. 
It  is  a  correct  maxim,  that  "  the  tree  is  known  by  its 
fruits."  A  system  producing  such  salutary  and  bene- 
ficent consequences,  must  be  sound  and  just,  and  any 
system  diametrically  opposite  to  it,  must  be  pernicious. 
For  slight  temporary  sacrifices,  France  now  reaps  a 
rich  harvest  of  wealth  and  happiness.  Her  situation,  I 
repeat,  never  was  more  prosperous.  And  she  presents 
a  practical  lesson,  not  to  be  disregarded  with  impunity, 
not  to  our  statesmen  alone,  but  to  the  whole  world, 
of  the  immense  and  inexpressible  folly  of  being  led 
astray  by  the  ignis  fatuus  of  wild  abstract  theories,  and 
shutting  their  eyes  against  the  strong  and  overwhelm- 
ing evidence  of  facts  and  history. 

In  all  other  sciences  a  man  is  justly  regarded  to  a 
certain  degree  insane,  who  pertinaciously  supports  a 
theory  contradicted  by  facts  and  experience.  For  in- 
stance, were  a  physician  to  write  a  book,  to  prove  that 
phlebotomy  was  a  specific  in  the  last  stage  of  con- 
sumption ;  Cayenne  pepper,  wine,  and  brandy  for  gout ; 
exposure  to  cold  for  rheumatism ;  tea  or  coffee  im- 
moderately strong  for  weak  nerves  ;  when  experiments 
were  fairly  tried,  and  found  to  hurry  the  ill-fated  pa- 

6 


42 

tients  to  an  untimely  grave,  the  theories  would  be 
discredited,  and  he  would  be  shunned  as  a  pestilence 
if  he  dared  to  operate  on  them.  But,  unhappily  for  the 
world,  in  the  science  of  political  economy,  on  correct 
views  of  which  the  prosperity  and  happiness  of  nations 
depend,  fallacious  theories  are  advocated  with  zeal  and 
ardour,  although  not  only  not  supported  by  a  single 
fact  in  history,  but  contradicted  by  the  experience  of 
all  nations  whatever.  The  strong  deductions  from  the 
policy  of  the  Edwards  and  Elizabeth  in  England — of 
Henry  IV.  and  Louis  XIV,  in  France— of  Frederic  in 
Prussia — from  the  immense  resources  of  Great  Britain 
— from  ihe  complete  and  wonderful  recovery  of  France 
after  the  conquest — as  well  as  from  the  decay  of  Spain, 
Portugal,  Italy,  and  Ireland,  are  wholly  disregarded : 
and  our  statesmen,  moreover,  reject  the  invaluable 
admonitions  of  Franklin  and  Hamilton,  and  perpetuate 
a  system  which  has  entailed  distress  and  calamity 
on  every  nation  by  which  it  has  been  adopted  I 


CHAPTER  IV. 

Erroneous  statement  contained  in  a  report  to  congress 
respecting  the  kingdom  of  Holland,     Real  situation 
of  that  country.    Its  false  policy.     Miserable  conse- 
quences.    Increase  of  pauperism^  and  decrease  of 
revenue, 

DURING  the  last  session  of  Congress,  an  elaborate 
report  was  presented  to  the  House  of  Representatives 
by  the  committee  on  agriculture,  written  by  Mr.  Gar- 
net, a  respectable  citizen  of  Virginia.  This  document 
cites  the  case  of  Holland  most  triumphantly  against 
any  increase  of  the  impost,  and  asserts  that  that  king- 
dom is  in  a  high  state  of  prosperity,  notwithstanding, 
and  indeed  in  consequence  of,  its  very  moderate  scale 
of  duties. 


43 

"  Notwithstanding  the  inimense  losses  which  the  Dutch 
"  nation  sustained  for  upwards  of  twenty  years  by  British 
*'  captures,  French  exactions,  and  the  almost  entire  prostra- 
*'  tion  of  commerce,  yet  their  trade,  and  with  it  their  nation- 
"  al  importance,  appear  to  have  become  equal,  or  nearly 
"  equal,  to  what  they  were  before  the  war  of  1793.  Their 
*'  capital  city,  Amsterdam,  has  again  become  the  chief  mart 
"  of  Europe.  If  the  policy  of  any  of  the  European  nations 
"  is  proper  to  be  imitated  by  the  United  States,  why  is  not 
*'  the  example  of  the  United  Provinces,  as  regards  their 
"  fiscal  concerns,  as  worthy  of  imitation  as  that  of  England  ? 
"  At  least  seeing  that,  in  Holland,  her  citizens  have,  for  the 
"  most  part,  been  left  to  themselves  in  the  direction  of  their 
"  industry,  ought  we  not  to  pause  before  we  decide  that  an 
*'  opposite  system  will  promote  and  extend  the  prosperity  of 
*'  our  citizens  ?  How  little  the  Dutch  commercial  policy  has 
*'  been  directed  by  the  protecting  system,  may  appear  by 
"  the  low  duties  on  the  following  articles,  most  of  which 
*'  come  in  competition  with  their  own  produce  and  manu- 
**  factures,  viz. 

"  Arms,  fire  -                 -         10  per  ct. 

"Baskets  -                 ISperct. 

"  Butter                ,  -                 -           I  ct.  per  lb. 

"  Books,  bound       -  -                    5  per  ct. 

unbound  -                 -           3  per  ct. 

*'  Bristles  and  brushes  10  per  ct. 

*'  Blankets  -                  -         10  per  ct. 

*'  Cheese,  foreign         -  -                  80  cts.  per  100  lb. 

«  Cordage  -                  -           2  dol.  per  100  lb. 

"  Carriages,  new      -  -                  10  per  ct. 

**  Clocks  -                  -         10  per  ct. 

"  Copper  manufactures  -                 10  per  ct. 

"  Candles,  tallow  -                          2^  cts.  per  lb. 

"  Clothes,  ready  made  -                 10  per  ct. 

"Cotton  -                 -         16  cts.  per  100  lb. 

manufactures  -                 SOflor.  per  lOOlb. 
about           -           2  to  3  cts.  per  yd. 

**  Cloths,  woollen,  and  other  manufac- 

**  tures,  wool  and  worsted  -           8  per  ct. 

"  Linens,  unbleached  2  per  ct. 

bleached  -                 -           4  per  ct. 

"  Sail  cloth            -  -                   2  per  ct. 

"  Sugar,  raw  or  clayed  -                 -         12  cts.  per  lOOlb. 

refined         -  -                   4  cts.  per  lb. 


44 

"  Se^aling  wax  -  -         10  per  ct. 

"  Spirits  pay  no  duty,  but  an  excise, 
"  which,  for  common  proof,  (probably 
"  our  6d  proof,)  is        -  -         28  cts.  per  gal. 

"  Ditto,  highest  proof  -  42  cts.  per  gal. 

*'  Wint;  ol  all  kinds  -  -  16  cts.  per  gal. 

*'  Tobacco,  manufactured,  snuff,  &c.  8  per  ct. 

*'  Toys,  turnery,  manufactures  of  wood 
*'  and  leather,  necklaces,  looking- 
"  glasses,  trunks,  snuff,  and  tobacco 
"  boxes,  fans,  with  a  great  variety  of 
"  similar  articles  -  -  6  per  ct. 

Foreign  vessels. 
"  Teas,  Bohea,  and  Congo      -      3  dols.  20  cts.  per  100  lb. 
other  -  -      6  dols,  40  cts.  per  100  lb. 

Dutch  vessels* 
"  Teas,  Bohea,  and  Congo  -  100  cts.  per  100  lb. 

other  -  -  200  cts.  per  100  lb. 

"  This  extract  is  from  the  tariff  of  Dutch  duties  for  the 
"  year  1816,  every  article  of  which,  with  very  few  excep- 
*'  tions,  is  rated  about  in  proportion  to  those  quoted  above. 
*'  Most  of  them,  as  is  well  known,  are  manufactured  or  pro- 
"  duced  in  Holland,  especially  butter  and  cheese,  of  which 
*'  the  amount  of  exports,  some  years  since,  was,  to  the  best 
"  of  my  recollection,  about  three  millions  sterling.  Their 
"  sugar  refineries  are  only  protected  by  a  duty  of  4  cents 
"  a  pound  ;  yetRicard  affirms,  that  in  his  time,  (about  forty 
*•  years  since,)  there  were  100  refineries,  which  manufac- 
"  tured  100,000  hogsheads  of  sugar.  Tobacco  is  very 
*'  extensively  manufactured  in  Holland.  Gin,  as  every  one 
"  knows,  is  one  of  their  great  staples."* 

The  reporter  pays  a  tribute  of  applause  to  the  poli- 
cy of  Holland,  at  the  expense  of  the  nations  which 
pursue  the  restrictive  system. 

"  This  wise  nation,"  says  he,  "  seems  to  have  thought 
"  that  goodness  of  quality  and  cheapness  of  price,  were 
"  firmer  foundations  for  national  industry  to  rest  on,  than 
"  protecting  duties." 

*  Report  of  the  Committee  on  Agriculture,  on  the  memorial 
of  the  delegates  of  the  United  x\gricultural  Societies  of  sundry 
counties  in  the  State  of  Virginia.     Read,  Feb.  2,  1821. 


45 

What  inference  is  to  be  drawn  from  the  fac 
"  about  forty  years  since,  there  were  one  hundred  su- 
gar refineries,  which  manufactured  100,000  hogsheads 
of  sugar,"  it  is  difficult  to  decide.  The  existing  ta- 
riff is  of- quite  modern  date,  and  no  inference  for  or 
against  it  can  be  drawn  from  the  state  of  affairs  ^^  forty 
years  since.'*'* 

If  Holland  were  really  as  prosperous  as  the  writer 
asserts — if  her  prosperity  were  not  "  a  mere  day- 
dream," a  **  beau  ideal,"  it  must  be  granted  that  the 
case  of  this  industrious  nation  was  most  felicitously 
quoted ;  that  it  would  afford  a  very  respectable  sup- 
port to  the  elaborate  theory  of  the  report ;  that  the 
policy  of  the  friends  of  an  increase  of  the  tariff,  howe- 
ever  upright  their  views  might  be,  is  unsound ;  and 
that  the  existing  duties,  instead  of  being  increased, 
ought  to  be  considerably  reduced. 

But  unfortunately  for  this  worthy  gentleman,  and 
fatally  for  his  argument,  his  assumptions  are  utterly 
destitute  of  foundation.  The  situation  of  Holland  is 
diametrically  opposite  to  the  very  flattering  picture  he 
has  drawn.  Her  case  recoils  on  him  with  irresistible 
force,  and  cuts  up  his  theory  by  the  roots.  Her  de- 
leterious tariff,  enacted  in  the  same  year  as  ours  and 
that  of  France,  has  produced  in  Holland  even  worse 
consequences  than  ours  has  done  in  the  United  States. 
From  its  date  Holland  has  been  gradually  decaying. 
Her  wealth,  like  ours,  has  been  drained  away  to  sup- 
port foreign  industry — one  ninth  part  of  her  population 
is  deprived  of  employment,  and  obliged  to  depend  on 
charity  for  support.  The  remainder  are  straitened  in 
their  circumstances,  and  obliged  to  curtail  their  con- 
sumption of  luxuries,  and  even  of  necessaries — her 
rcvenue,like  ours,  is,  in  consequence, fast  diminishing. 
To  cap  the  climax  of  her  calamities,  her  states- 
men, instead  of  cutting  off  the  source  of  the  evil,  are 
about  to  supply  their  financial  deficiencies  by  a  most 
oppressive  and  pernicious  excise  on  flour  and  but- 
chers' meat,  the  former  to  be  collected  at  the  mills^ 


46 

and  the  latter  at  the  slaughter-houses  !  To  secure 
the  collection  of  the  first,  it  is  proposed  to  oblige 
the  people  to  destroy  their  private  mills,  and  to  have 
the  grain  ground  at  public  establishments. 

So  much  for  the  case  of  Holland,  adduced  with 
such  exultation  and  triumph  in  support  of  doctrines, 
which  it  is  calculated  to  sweep  away  forever  with  the 
besom  of  destruction. 

On  the  27th  of  June,  1821,  there  was  a  very  valua- 
ble work  published  at  Brussels,  of  which  the  title 
is,  *'  Considerations  sur  le  projet  du  nouveau  systeme 
*'  financier  du  royaume  de  Pays-Bas."  Ii  presents  a 
most  gloomy  picture  of  the  state  of  Holland,  which, 
had  he  seen  it  in  season,  might  have  saved  Mr.  G. 
from  committing  himself  and  the  committee  of  agri- 
culture, in  the  above  report,  by  statements  the  reverse 
of  the  fact,  which,  I  trust  and  believe,  he  and  they 
will,  as  they  ought,  most  sincerely  regret. 

From  this  work,  I  annex  a  few  extracts : — 

*'  Our  people  are  in  the  most  unfortunate  situation  for 
*'  want  of  work;  as  it  appears,  from  authentic  documents, 
"  submitted  to  the  States  general,  that  one  ninth  part  of  the 
"  most  industrious  nation  in  the  xvorld^  passionately  devoted 
"  to  labour^  is  reduced  to  the  abject  state  of  mendicity^  or  to 
"  solicit  aid  to  support  their  existence ;  that  a  still  more 
"  numerous  part,  the  middle  and  working  class,  is  circum- 
"  scribed  to  the  consumption  of  mere  necessaries ;  and  that 
^^  manufactures  and  commerce  being  in  a  languishing  con- 
*'  dition,  the  profits  of  persons  who  follow  those  two 
"  branches  of  industry,  are  insignificant."* 

*  •'  Loin  d'etre  dans  Paisance,  le  peuple  est  dans  la  position  a 
"  phis  malheureuse,  par  le  defaut  de  travail  ;  puisqu'il  con- 
*'  ste,  par  des  documens  authentiques,  remis  aux  etats  gene- 
*  raux,  que  la  neuvieme  partie  de  la  nation  la  plus  industrieuse 
"  de  I'univers,  ef  qui  aime  le  travail  avec  passion,  est  rSduite  a 
"  Petal  abject  de  mendlant,  ou  a  besoin  de  reclamer  des  secours 
"  pour  subsister  ;  qu'une  partie  plus  nombreuse  encore  (la 
"  classe  ouvriere  et  moyenne)  est  reduite  au  plus  strict  neces- 
"  saire ;  que  les  manufactures  et  le  commerce  etant  languis- 
"  sans,  le  gain  des  personnes  qui  exploitent  ces  deux  branches 
"  d'industrie,  est  presque  nul."     Considerations  sur  le  projet 


47 

Here  is  a  most  wonderful  contrast  to  the  flowery 
descriptions  of  the  happiness  and  pro.sjierity  of  Hol- 
land, so  captivatingly  pourtrayed  by  Mr.  Garnet,  to  in- 
duce us  to  copy  her  beneficent  example.  Instead  of 
presenting  allurements  to  follow  in  her  train,  she 
stands  a  beacon  to  warn  other  nations  to  shun  the 
rocks  and  quicksands  on  which  herquacking  statesmen 
have  so  lamentably  shipwrecked  the  happiness  and 
prosperity  of  '*  the  most  industrious  nation  in  the  world, 
passionately  devoted  to  labour.''^  The  United  States 
are  under  great  obligations  to  Mr.  Garnet  for  citing 
her  case,  as  it  has  brought  her  fatal  policy  and  its  de- 
leterious consequences  fairly  into  view,  and  will  en- 
able our  statesmen  to  decide,  by  the  talisman  of  in- 
controvertible facts,  on  the  merits  or  demerits  of  the 
wire-drawn  theories  that  are  pressed  on  the  public 
with  so  much  zeal. 

The  writer  ascribes  all  the  calamities  of  the  coun- 
try, and  among  others,  *'  the  fall  of  real  estate  one 
third,"  to  the  enaction  of  the  "  murderous  tariff  of 
1816."* 

"  It  is  the  tariff  of  1816,  which  has  opened  the  door  to 
**  the  productions  of  foreign  industry.  Fro7n  that  period, 
**  there  has  been  a  constant  deficiency  in  our  finances  ;  be- 
*'  cause  the  working  classes,  deprived  of  wages,  have  been 
**  obliged  to  diminish  their  consumption  of  the  articles  sub- 
"  ject  to  the  excise-  and  impost — and  because  the  manufac- 
"  turers,  the  merchants,  and  the  traders,  deprived  of  the 
"  profit  which  they  derived  from  the  disbursement  of  the 
"  most  part  of  these  wages,  have  likewise  been  obliged  to 
"  diminish  their  consumption. 

"  It  is  since  1816,  that  the  ninth  part  of  the  nation  is  re- 
**  duced  either  to  mendicity,  or  to  require  assistance  [for 
support]. 

"  It  is  since  1816,  that  manufactures  and  commerce  have 
"  declined  with  giant  strides  : 

de  loi,  concernant  le  nouveau  systeme  financier  du  royaume  des 
Pays-has. — A  Bruxelles,  27  Juin,  1821,  page  29. 
*"  Les  tarifs  meurtviers  de  1816."  Idem,  page  32. 


48 

"  It  is  since  1816,  that  the  metallic  medium  of  the  nation 
''  has  been  lavished  to  pay  tribute  to  foreign  industry. 

"This  disappearance  of  the  specie  is  most  perniciously 
"  felt  by  the  reduction  of  the  price  of  houses,  which,  except  in 
"Brussels  and  the  Hague,  have  fallen^  since  that  period, 
"  7no7-e  than  one  third ;  an  irrefragable  proof  of  the  impo- 
"  verishment  of  the  nation  ;  for  if  our  resources  were  the 
"  same  as  formerly,  houses  would  still  command  the 
*'  same  price."* 

The  tariff,  so  much  applauded  by  Mr.  Garnet,  has 
produced  the  most  ruinous  consequences  to  the  brew- 
eries and  the  distilleries  of  Holland ;  and  almost  anni- 
hilated the  important  manufacture  of  lace,  formerly  a 
source  of  immense  wealth  to  the  nation.  Other  ma- 
nufactures have  shared  the  same  fate. 

**  It  is  ascertained  that  the  immense  number  of  brexveries 
*'  and  distilleries^  which  formerly  existed  in  both  parts  of  the 
*■''  kingdom^  have  undergone  prodigious  di?ninution.^^-f 

The  writer  states  that  the  wages  of  the  labouring 
women,  when  employed  in  agriculture,  were  formerly 

*  <'  Ce  sent  les  tarifs  de  1816,  qui  ont  ouvert  I'entree  aux 
"  produits  de  I'induslric  etrangere.  Depuis  cette  epoque, 
*'  le  deficit  n'a  pas  cesse  de  regner  dans  nos  finances  ;  parce 
"  que  la  classe  ouvriere,  privee  de  son  salaire,  a  ete  obligee  de 
''  diminuer  sa  consommation  en  denrecs  soumises  aux  droits 
"  des  accises  et  des  douanes  ;  parce  que  les  manufacturiers, 
'•  les  negocians,  et  les  niarchands  en  detail,  prives  du  benefice 
"  qu'ils  faisaient  sur  la  plus  grande  partie  de  ce  salaire,  ont  du 
"  aussi  restreindre  leur  consommation. 

"  C'est  depuis  1816,  que  les  manufactures  et  le  commerce  ont 
"  decline  a  pas  de  geant ; 

"  C'est  depuis  1816,  que  le  numSraire  national  a  ete  prodigue 
"  pour  payer  des  tributs  a  Pindustrie  etrangere. 

"  La  disparition  du  numerau'e  sc  fait  sentir,  et  meme  d'une 
"  nianiere  grave,  par  la  baisse  de  la  valeur  de  la  propriete 
"  batie,  qui  est  tombee  depuis  cette  epoque,  de  ijliis  d^un  tier,  a 
"  rexception  de  celle  des  villas  de  Bruxelles  et  de  la  Haye ; 
"  preuvc  evidenle  de  I'appauvrissement  de  la  nation  ;  car  si 
"  elle  avail  encore  les  meme  moyens,  les  maisons  se  vendraient 
"  au  meme  prix  qu'autrefois."  Idem,  pp.  37,  38. 

t  "  D'abord  il  est  reconnu,  que  le  nombre  immense  de  bras- 
"  series  et  de  distilleries  qu'il  y  avait  jadis  dans  les  deux 
"  parties  du  royaume.  est  immensement  diminue."  Idem,  p.  31. 


49 

eight  to  ten  sous  per  day — that  they  were  able  to  de- 
vote about  one  hundred  days  in  the  year  to  spinning, 
making  lace,  &c. ;  and  thai  the  effect  of  the  low  tariff 
had  been  to  crush  this  manufacture,  and  to  lower 
the  wages  one  half. 

"  Since  the  tariff  of  1816  has  permitted  the  entry  of  Scotch 
**  stockings  and  thules  under  light  duties— and  since  the 
*'  E'lghsh  thules  have  almost  annihilated  our  Jlourishing 
^^  fabrics  of  lace,  there  is  good  reason  to  believe^  that  those 
^'•poor  women  earn  at  present  but  four  sous  per  day^^ 

The  deficiency  of  the  revenue  of  Holland  for  1818, 
was  no  less  than  Florins,     6,500,000t 

Equal  to  about  S  2,600,000 

To  be  provided  for  by  loans  or  a  sale  of  the  na- 
tional territory,  proportioned  to  the  deficiency. f 

The  deficiency  in  1819,  was  Florins,  4,756,152f 
Equal  to  about  S  1,960,000 

The  advocates  of  Adam  Smith's  doctrines,  affect 
to  despise  tables — balances  of  trade— and  facts — to 
which  they  rarely  refer ;  but  when  they  do  adduce 
them,  as  in  this  case  of  Holland,  they  generally  ope- 
rate to  overturn  their  system  :  and  never  was  there  a 
more  unfortunate  attempt  at  propping  up  a  tottering 
scheme  of  policy,  than  appears  in  this  instance. 

The  contrast  between  the  policy  and  actual  situa- 
tion of  France  on  one  side,  and  Holland  and  the 
United  States,  on  the  other,  is  strong  and  striking. 
France  with  an  unwinking  eye,  watches  over  the  pros- 
perity of  her  manufactures.     She  excludes  whatever 

*  "  Depuis  que  les  tarifs  de  1816,  ont  permis  I'entree  des 
"  has  et  tulles  d'Ecosse,  moyennant  de  faibles  droits,  et  que 
"  les  tulles  Jingiais  ont  presque  ctrK^cmti  nos  belies  fahriques  de 
"  dentelles,  nous  avons  de  fortes  raisons  de  croire  que  ces 
"  pauvres  ouvrieres  gagnent  tout  au  plus  a  present  quatre  sols 
"  par  jour." — Idem,  p.  5. 

"  t  A  couvrir  par  voie  d'emprunt,  on  par  une  vente  propor- 
"  tionnee  de  domains  deTetat.''  Annuaire  historique,  ou  his- 
tiore  politique  et  literaire  de  I'annee  1818,  page  254. 

I  Idem,  pour  I'annee  1819,  page  349. 

7 


50 

can  injure  them.  She  is  not  afraid  of  extortion,  which 
is  fully  guarded  against  by  competition.  She  is  in 
consequence  highly  prosperous  and  happy.  In  Hol- 
land and  the  United  States,  the  object  of  the  tariflP  is 
principally  revenue.  Manufacturers,  on  the  brink  of 
ruin,  have  here  cried  aloud  for  protection.  They 
cried  in  vain.  Congress  was  blind,  and  deaf,  and 
dumb  to  their  sufferings,  and  spent  its  time  for  weeks 
together  in  miserable  debates,  in  which  the  same  argu- 
ments were  reiterated  over  and  over,  on  compensation 
acts,  Seminole  wars,  and  Missouri  questions,  without 
deigning  to  read  or  report  on  the  petitions.  Impover- 
ishment and  desolation  in  consequence  of  the  never- 
enough- to-be- deplored  neglect  of  the  dangers  and  suf- 
ferings of  the  citizens,  spread  through  the  land.  Real  es- 
tate fell,  exactly  as  in  Holland,  almost  every  where  one 
third.  The  farmers,  too  numerous  for  the  demands 
of  the  domestic  and  foreign  markets,  underwent  in- 
tense suffering  through  the  superabundance  of  the 
fruits  of  the  earth.  The  finances  finally  failed. 
Loans  were  repealed — and  all  the  splendid  promises 
of  the  sinking  fund  ended  in  smoke. 

These  admonitory  facts  ought  to  settle  this  impor- 
tant question  forever.  England  and  France  have  tried 
the  restrictive  system  in  its  fullest  extent.  They  have 
derived  from  it  boundless  wealth  and  resources.  It 
has  enabled  the  former  to  hold  in  check  the  most  for- 
midable power  Europe  has  beheld  for  500  years,  and 
finally  to  lay  that  power  prostrate.  It  has  enabkd  the 
latter  to  overcome  in  a  few  years  the  most  severe  dis- 
tress as  well  as  the  most  oppressive  exactions.  That 
England  has  prodigally  lavished  her  resources,  and  en- 
tailed enormous  evils  on  her  population,  no  more  proves 
that  her  system  was  not  the  true  road  to  "  the  wealth 
of  nations,"  than  the  case  of  an  individual,  who  car- 
ried on  a  gainful  commerce,  but  ruined  himself  by  pro* 
digality,  would  prove  that  his  commerce  was  not  pro- 
fitable. 

No  writer  has  inveighed  more  bitterly  against  pay- 


51 

ing  attention  to  the  balance  of  trade,  than  Mr.  Cam- 
breleng.  Of  his  denunciations,  often  repeated,  I  give 
a  specimen : — 

"  Of  all  the  bodies  which  revolve  in  the  systems  of  po- 
*'  litical  economy,  not  one  has  presented  itself  in  so  many 
"  different  shapes  as  this  same  capricious  "  balance  of 
"  trade  :" — and  no  where,  so  much  as  in  this  devoted  land, 
"  has  it  appeared  with  the  fiery  and  bloody  features  of  a 
*'  cornet^  folloxvea  by  its  trail  of  war,  earthquakes,  and  fa- 
*'  wziwi?." — Examination,  page  125. 

What  Mr.  Cambreleng  means  by  attaching  "  the 
Jiery  and  bloody  features  of  a  comef  and  a  *'  trail  of 
xvar,  earthquakes  and  famine^'*  to  the  inquiries  into, 
and  stress  laid  on,  *'  the  balance  of  trade,"  it  is  not 
easy,  nor  very  important,  to  discover.  These  ele- 
gant figures  are  peculiarly  appropriate  in  a  sober  dis- 
cussion on  political  economy,  and  reflect  honour  on 
the  judgment  as  well  as  on  the  lively  imagination  of 
the  author  !  It  cannot,  however,  be  denied,  that  to 
ascertain  the  balance  of  trade  for  or  against  a  nation 
■with  critical  accuracy,  is  impossible,  nor  is  critical 
exactness  necessary.  A  near  approximation  to  the 
truth  is  sufiicient.  Even  a  merchant  engaged  in  a  very- 
extensive  and  complicated  trade,  may  sometimes  find  it 
very  difficult  to  state  the  precise  balance  of  that  trade. 
But  a  very  moderate  supervision  of  his  books  will  en- 
able him  to  ascertain  which  way  the  balance  inclines, 
whether  favourably  or  otherwise.  Thus  it  is  with 
nations.  It  can  be  readily  ascertained  whether  they 
buy  or  sell  most.  This  is  the  grand  point  to  be 
decided.  When  a  nation  buys  more  than  it  sells,  it 
is  invariably  distressed  and  embarrassed.  To  pay 
the  difference  between  its  sales  and  purchases,  it  is 
obUged,  as  we  have  been  in  1816,  17,  18,  and  19,  to 
export  its  specie.  This  creates  a  general  stagnation  of 
business.  The  price  of  every  article  falls. — The 
working  classes  are  thrown  out  of  employment.  Their 
employers  are  bankrupted.  Distress  and  poverty  per- 
vade the  land.     The  finances  fail,   as  already  fully 


52 

stated,  in  consequence  of  the  general  impoverishment, 
whereby  people  aie  unable  to  purchase  as  formerly 
those  articles  on  the  consumption  of  which  the  reve- 
nue depends. 

Ccin  any  man  doubt  that  Holland  formerly  had,  and 
that  England  at  present  has,  a  balance  in  her  favour 
in  the  trade  with  the  world  at  large  ? — that  the  ba- 
lance has  been  for  a  century  against  Spain,  Portugal 
and  Ireland — or  that  it  was  against  the  United  States 
in  1784,  5,  6,  7  &  8— and  in  iS15,  16,  17,  18  &  19? 
And  Mr.  Cambreleng  to  the  contrary  notwithstanding, 
it  is  one  of  the  most  important  duties  of  a  government, 
to  guard  against  an  unfavourable  balance  of  trade,  the 
fruitful  source  of  national  impoverishment,  with  all  its 
''^  fiery  and  bloody  features^''  of  misery  and  distress. 


CHAPTER  V. 

Prosperous  state  of  the  nation  after  the  war.     Mr. 

Madison'' s  recommendation  of  protection  to  manu- 
factures. Mr.  Dallas'' s  tariff.  Outcry  against  the 
pretended  extortion  of  manufacturers.     Reduction 

of  the  tariff.      Calamitous  consequences. 

The  sketches  given  in  the  preceding  chapters,  of 
the  policy  of  England,  France,  and  Holland — of  the 
operation  of  that  policy— -and  of  the  actual  state  of 
those  nations,  with  the  causes  which  have  produced 
the  calamitous  scenes  exhibited  in  the  first  and  last, 
and  thi-  high  degree  of  prosperity  of  the  second,  are 
so  striking,  and  militate  so  strongly  against  the  plau- 
sible theories  of  free  and  unrestrained  trade,  that  I  hope 
such  of  the  readers  of  these  pages  as  have  been  zea- 
lous advocates  of  that  trade,  will  at  least  seriously 
reconsider  the  subject.     It  is  well  worth  while  to  re- 


53 

fleet  how  far  the  support  of  a  system,  contradicted  by 
the  experience  of  some  of  the  first  nations  on  the 
globe,  and  unsupported  by  that  of  any  nation  what- 
ever, of  extensive  population,  is  compatible  with  the 
use  of  reason  and  common  sense. 

I  proceed,  according  to  my  purpose,  to  take  a  view 
of  the  policy  pursued  by  this  country  since  the  peace, 
which  has  blighted  the  energies  and  prosperity  of  a 
nation,  blest  with  advantages,  natural,  moral,  and  po- 
litical, never  exceeded,  and  subject  to  fewer  disadvan- 
tages, probably,  than  any  other  nation  in  the  world. 

We  closed  the  war,  as  I  have  already  stated,  with 
distinguished  honour,  and,  with  the  exception  of  a 
few  parts  of  the  country,  ravaged  by  the  enemy,  in  a 
high  state  of  prosperity.  Every  person  in  the  nation, 
disposed  to  useful  industry,  was  fully  employed.  An 
immense  sum,  probably  from  90  to  100,000,000  of 
dollars,  was  invested  in  manufactures  and  manufac- 
turing establishments,  which  had  made  the  most  ex- 
traordinary progress  during  the  war.  And  such  were 
the  energy  and  enterprise  of  our  citizens,  and  such 
the  immense  impetus  afforded  by  the  unrestrained  ex- 
ercise of  industry,  that  without  having  ever  received 
a  single  dollar  of  bounty,  or  premium  from  the  go- 
vernment, or  any  privilege  or  immunity  whatever, 
they  had  arrived  in  two  or  three  years  at  a  degree  of 
prosperity,  which  had  cost  England,  France,  Prussia, 
and  other  countries,  at  least  half  a  century,  and  immo- 
derate sums,  bestowed  in  bounties  and  premiums,  be- 
sides various  immunities  and  privileges.  The  world 
has  perhaps  never  before  witnessed  such  a  rapid  pro- 
gress in  the  same  space  of  time,  and  at  so  little  expense 
to  the  government  of  the  country  where  it  occurred. 

Those  who  may  be  disposed  to  regard  the  estimate 
of  90  to  100,000,000  of  dollars  as  two  high,  are  refer- 
red to  the  reports  of  the  committee  of  commerce  and 
manufactures  in  1816,  wherein  it  is  stated,  on  infor- 
mation received  by  that  committee,  that  there  were 
60,000,000  of  dollars  invested  in  the  cotton  and  wool* 


54 

len  manufactures  alone.  But  even  if  the  amount  be 
overrated,  it  does  not  affect  the  question.  It  is  suffi- 
cient for  the  purpose  that  the  capital  thus  invested  was 
immense,  and  embraced  a  large  portion  of  what  had 
previously  been  employed  in  commerce,  which  would 
otherwise  have  lain  dormant  during  the  war. 

There  is  one  point  of  view  in  which  the  progress 
made,  is  truly  astonishing,  and  highly  creditable  to  the 
undertakers.  Their  operations  were  commenced  un- 
der great  difficulties,  and  various  discouraging  disad- 
vantages, of  the  most  serious  character.  The  esti- 
mates of  the  expenses  of  their  establishments,  were 
frequently  so  far  below  the  actual  cost,  that  in 
many  cases,  they  were  unfortunately  obliged,  after 
having  exhausted  their  capitals,  to  borrow  largely  from 
banks.  Notwithstanding  the  immense  number  of 
sites  for  the  erection  of  mills,  the  owners  sold  them 
at  most  extravagant  prices.  Skilful  mechanists 
were  scarce,  and  hired  their  services  and  talents  at 
equally  extravagant  rates.  Experienced  workmen 
were  almost  as  scarce,  and  of  course  could  not  be  had 
but  at  very  high  wages.  Raw  materials  rose  most 
exorbitantly.  To  avoid  much  detail,  I  shall  confine 
myself  to  the  single  article  of  Merino  wool,  which  is  a 
tolerable  specimen  of  the  whole.  In  May,  1812,  be- 
fore the  declaration  of  war,  it  was  sold  at  75  cents  per 
pound — but  in  the  course  of  1813  and  1814,  it  rose  to 
three  and  four  dollars — as  may  be  seen  in  Grotjan's 
Philadelphia  Price  Current,  to  which  the  reader  is  re- 
ferred :  in  one  word,  almost  every  person  in  the  na- 
tion, with  whom  the  manufacturers  had  to  deal,  took 
advantage  of  their  necessities,  and  made  them  pay 
most  extravagant  prices. 

All  these  oppressive  and  overwhelming  disadvan- 
tages they  successfully  struggled  against,  and  by  a  most 
laudible  perseverance  and  energy  overcame.  At  the 
close  of  the  war,  they  were  "  in  the  full  tide  of  suc- 
cessful experiment."  Had  it  continued  another  year 
or  two,    or  had  government   afforded  manufactures 


S5 

adequate  protection  at  its  close,  they  would  have 
taken  such  deep  root  as  to  be  able  to  withstand  the 
attacks  of  foreign  rivals. 

Having  proved  so  useful  in  time  of  war,  they  were 
fairly  entitled  to  be  fostered  and  protected  after  its 
close.  This  idea  had  been  held  out  during  the  war 
by  the  constituted  authorities  ;  and  some  years  previ- 
ously, Mr.  Gallatin  had  issued  a  circular,  calling  for 
information  as  to  the  best  means  of  promoting  manu- 
factures, and  giving  strong  reasons  to  induce  a  belief, 
that  government  seriously  intended  to  foster  and  pro- 
mote this  important  branch  of  national  industry. 

The  President  of  the  United  States,  Mr.  Madison, 
in  his  message  at  the  opening  of  the  first  session  of  the 
fifteenth  congress,  Dec.  5,  1816,  presented  the  sub- 
ject to  that  body  in  cogent  terms,  as  demanding  their 
serious  attention. 

"  In  adjusting  the  duties  on  imports  to  the  objects  of  re- 
**  venue,  the  injiuence  of  the  tariff  on  manufactures  will  ne- 
*'  cessarily  present  itself  for  consideration.  However  wise 
*'  the  theory  may  be,  which  leaves  to  the  sagacity  and  inte- 
*'  rest  of  individuals  the  application  of  their  industry  and  re- 
*'  sources,  there  are  in  this,  as  in  other  cases,  exceptions 
"  to  the  general  rule.  Besides  the  condition  which  the  the- 
*'  ory  itself  implies,  of  a  reciprocal  adoption  by  other  na- 
"  tions^  experience  teaches  that  so  many  circumstances  must 
"  concur  in  introducing  and  maturing  manufacturing  esta- 
*'  blishments,  especially  of  the  more  complicated  kinds,  that 
*'  a  country  may  remain  long  xvithoiit  them^  although  sujffi- 
"  ciently  advanced,  and  in  some  respects  even  peculiarly 
'■^  fitted  for  carrying  them  on  xvith  success. 

"  Under  circumstances  giving  a  powerful  impulse  to  ma- 
"  nufacturing  industry,  it  has  made  among  us  a  progress 
"and  exhibited  an  efficiency,  which  justify  the  belief,  that 
"  ruith  a  protection  not  more  than  is  due  to  the  enterprising 
"  citizens  xvhose  interests  are  now  at  stakc^  it  will  become, 
*'  at  an  early  day,  not  only  safe  against  occasional  competi- 
"  tors  from  abroad,  but  a  source  of  domestic  wealth  and 
"  even  of  external  commerce.  In  selecting  the  branches 
*'  more  especially  entitled  to  the  public  patronage,  a  pre- 
"  ference  is  obviously  claimed  by  such  as  xvill  relieve  the 
'''' United  States  from  dependence  on  foreign  supplies.,  ever 


56 

"'  subject  to  casual  failures,  for  articles  necessary  for  public 
"  defence,  or  connected  wiih  the  prinrvary  wants  of  indivi-  • 
*'  duals.  It  will  be  an  additional  recommendation  of  parti- 
"  cular  maniifacturcs,  when  the  mater'iah for  them  are  exten- 
*'  sively  drarvn  from  our  agTiciiltnrr^  and  consequently  im- 
"part  and  ensure  to  that  great  fund  of  national  prosperity 
*' and  independence,  an  encouragement  which  cannot  fail 
*'  to  be  rewarded." 

To  these  admirable  views  of  a  grand  national  sub- 
ject, entitled,  from  their  justice,  as  well  as  from  the 
respectable  quarter  whence  they  emanated,  to  great 
weight,  no  attention  was  paid  by  congress,  as  will 
subsequently  appear. 

In  this  session,  Mr.  Dallas,  secretary  of  the  trea- 
sury, reported  a  tariff,  the  adoption  of  which  would 
have  afforded  tolerable  protection  to  the  chief  of  our 
manufactures.  He  had  bestowed  great  attention  on 
the  subject — and  had  invited  communications  from 
almost  every  quarter  of  the  union,  in  order  to  enable 
him  to  do  justice  to  it,  and  to  the  duties  of  his 
office.  The  tariff  he  proposed,  therefore,  claimed 
a  high  degree  of  attention — but  received  very  little 
from  cony:ress— who  cut  and  carved  it  most  unmer- 
cifully.  The  rates  were  reduced,  iO,  20,  25,  35,  and 
50  per  cent,  on  many  important  articles.  Thus, 
fine  cotton  goods,  on  which  Mr.  Dallas  recom- 
mended a  duty  of  33  per  cent,  were  reduced  to  25 — 
pottery,  earthen  and  glass  ware  from  30  to  20 — print- 
ing tvpes  from  35  to  20 — printed  books  from  35  to 
15,  &c.  &c. 

This  pernicious  and  destructive  measure,  to  which 
may  be  traced  four  fifths  of  the  calamities  and  dis- 
tresses this  nation  has  suffered  since  that  period,  was 
greatly  facilitated  by  a  base  and  calumnious  clamour 
excited  against  the  manufacturers  on  the  ground  of 
extortion  said  to  have  been  practised  during  the  war. 
This  groundless  charge  was  aided  in  its  progress  by 
those  who  were  hostile  to  manufactures  and  manufac- 
turers, from  self  interest  or  prejudice.  It  was  rever- 
berated from  New  Hampshire  to  Georgia,  and  from  the 


57 

Atlantic  to  the  Mississippi,  and  formed  no  small  portion 
of  many  a  dull  and  long-winded  harangue  in  congress 
— and  as  dull  and  long  winded  essays  in  newspapers. 

Although  fortunately  the  odium  it  excited  was  not 
as  sanguinary  or  piratical  in  its  effects,  as  the  outcry 
occasionally  raised  in  *'  olden  time"  against  the  Jews, 
to  warrant  a  projected  confiscation  and  massacre  ;  or 
against  the  knights  templars,  previous  to  the  horrible 
proscription  of  which  they  were  the  victims  ;  it  as  ef- 
fectually answered  the  purpose  intended,  that  is,  to 
prevent  the  objects  against  vvhom  it  was  directed  from 
obtaining  adequate  protection.  Against  such  clamours 
reason  has  in  every  age  raised  her  voice  in  vain.  It 
is  too  feeble  to  be  heard  amidst  the  bellowings  of  pre- 
judice, passion,  infatuation,  and  hatred. 

If  any  thing  could  render  this  calumny  more  shock- 
ing and  disgraceful,  it  was,  that  the  merchants,  about 
this  period,  and  for  the  preceding  twelve  months, 
sold  their  goods  at  most  exorbitant  and  unprecedented 
advances — and  that  the  prices  of  agricultural  produc- 
tions were  then  likewise  exorbitantly  high  in  the  U. 
States. 

Tobacco,  throughout  the  year  1816,  ave- 
raged, per  hogshead,  -         -         S  185.00* 
Flour,  per  barrel,           ....     lO.OOf 
Sea  Island  Cotton,  per  pound,        -         -  .47$ 

Upland, _  .27$ 

What  can  be  conceived  more  revolting  than  citi- 
zens selling  tobacco  at  185  dollars  per  hogshead,  cot- 
ton at  27  cents  per  pound,  and  flour  at  10  dollars  per 
barrel,  while  they  were  cruelly  legislating  their  unfor- 
tunate brethren  to  irretrievable  destruction,  on  the 
sorry  and  contemptible  pretext  of  extortion,  because 
they  had  raised  the  price  of  woollen  goods,  for  instance, 
fifty  or  sixty  per  cent,§  when  the  raw  material  was 

•  Pitkin's  Statistics,  page  131. 

t  Idem,  page  112.  |  Idem,  page  133. 

§  I  confine  myself  to  woollen  goods,  merely  because  this  ar- 
ticle is  a  more  tangible  one — and  more  subject  to  the  talisman 
of  figures.  Almost  every  other  article  would  equally  confirm  the 
doctrines  here  advanced. 

8 


58 

advanced  three  or  four  hundred  per  cent,  by  the  very 
men  who  sounded  the  alarm  of  extortion — sites  for 
manufactories  five  hundred  per  cent — workmanship 
one  hundred — and  when  most  enormous  expenses  had 
been  incurred  for  establishments  to  carry  on  the  ma- 
nufacture ?* 

At  this  session  of  congress  the  manufacturers  had  a 
number  of  agents  at  the  seat  of  government  to  plead 
their  cause,  and  to  prove  the  necessity  of  guarding 
their  establishments,  then  in  their  infancy,  against 
the  overwhelming  advantages  possessed  by  their  fo- 
reign rivals.  These  explanations  were  of  the  most 
cogent  and  irresistible  nature,  and  pointed  out,  '^  with 
a  pencil  of  light,"  the  national  impoverishment  and 
distress  that  must  necessarily  follow,  and  have  since 
followed,  from  the  sacrifice  of  so  large  a  portion  of 
the  industry  of  the  country  devoted  to  manufactures, 
as  would  fall  a  victim  to  the  system,  the  enaction  of 
which  they  deprecated.  Many  of  the  members  of 
congress,  likewise,  whose  views  were  luminous  and 
profound,  zealously  contended  for  the  adoption  of 
Mr.  Dallas's  tariff.  But  it  was  all  in  vain.  The  dead- 
ly hostility  against  the  "  extortionate  manufacturers'* 
was  as  immovable  and  relentless  as  the  Peak  of  Tene- 
riffe. 

The  importations  in  1815  and  1816,  were  carried 
to  a  most  extravagant  extent,  and  amounted,  as 
nearly  as  can  be  estimated,  to  about  one  hundred  and 
eighty  milHons  of  dollars.  The  duties  that  accrued  in 
these  two  years  were  about  sixty  four  millions.  On 
this  wonderful  increase  of  revenue  some  of  our  states- 
men sang  "  Jo  paeans,"  as  if  we  were  about  to  realize 
a  financial  and  commercial  millennium.  The  payment 
of  the  national  debt  in  a  fevv  years  was  among  the  ex- 
ploits  they  were  to  accomplish.  Some  of  them  were 
so  very  sanguine  as  to  believe  that  the  treasury  would 

*  T.'he  destructive  effects  of  this  calumny  entitle  it  to  a  further 
discussion.     See  Chap.  IX. 


59 

overflow  so  fast  that  it  would  be  difficult  to  find  em- 
ployment for  the  national  wealth. 

This  delirium,  which  a  year  or  two  in  ordinary 
seasons,  would  have  entirely  dispelled,  was  continued 
beyond  its  natural  time  of  existence,  by  a  concurrence 
of  circumstances,  which  it  may  be  proper  to  develop. 

Notwithstanding  the  great  accession  to  the  agricul- 
tural class  in  Europe,  by  disbanding  ihe  gigantic  ar- 
mies— those  fruges  consumere  nati — who  had  for 
years  ravaged  that  fairest  portion  of  the  globe — the 
crops  fell  short  in  that  quarter,  for  two  or  three  years 
after  the  peace.  The  British  ports  were  open  to  our 
bread  stuffs  till  November,  1817.  Hence  this  im.por- 
tant  staple  continued  at  very  high  rates  till  the  year 
1818. 

The  supply  of  tobacco  in  Europe  at  the  close  of  tl^ 
war  was  very  small — and  the  exportations  of  1815, 
16,  and  17,  being  moderate,  this  Staple  maintained  a 
high  price  for  those  years. 

The  importation  of  cotton  into  Great  Britain,  during 
our  war,  had  greatly  decreased — as  will  appear  from 
the  following  comparison  of  two  successive  periods,  of 
three  years  each. 

bales. 

1809,  .      .     440,382 

1810,  .     .       561,175 

1811,  .      .     326,231 

1,327,788 

1812,  '  .  .  261,205 
ISiS,  .  .  249,536 
1814,      .      .     287,631 

798,372 

The  stock  on  hand,  therefore,  at  the  close  of  1814, 
was  only  80,600  bales — and  although  the  importations 
in  the  succeeding  years  greatly  increased,  as  will  ap- 
pear  from  this  statement: — 

bales. 

1815,  .     .     .     370,000 

1816,  .     .     .   371,400 

1817,  .     .      .     477,160 


■1,218,560. 


6d 

yet  the  consumption  so  completely  kept  pace  with 
the  supply,  that  there  were  on  hand,  at  the  close  of 
the  year  1816,  only  76,600  bales,  and  at  that  of  1817, 
only  i  14,600.  High  prices  were  therefore  maintained. 
These  circumstances  greatly  enhanced  the  value 
of  our  exportations,  and,  I  repeat,  prevented  the  ru- 
inous consequences  of  our  tariff  from  developing 
themselves  as  early  as  they  would  otherwise  have  done. 

—1817.— 

In  this  year,  bankruptcy  and  ruin  spread  more  ge- 
nerally among  the  manufacturers.  Some  of  them, 
enjoying  very  particular  advantages  in  respect  of  ca- 
pital, situation,  &c.  were  able  to  withstand  the  shock, 
but  with  impaired  fortunes.  The  most  pathetic  ap- 
peals were  made  to  congress,  from  all  the  manufac- 
turing districts  of  the  nation,  but,  as  I  have  already 
stated,  wholly  in  vain. 

The  bank  of  the  United  States  in  this  year  com- 
menced the  importation  of  specie,  of  which  it  in- 
troduced into  the  country  S7,3 11,750,  at  an  expense 
of  j^525,927,  in  order  to  facilitate  the  operations  of  the 
institution.  But  it  was  just  equally  successful  with 
the  attempt  of  the  Danaides,  to  draw  off  the  water  of 
a  deep  well,  with  a  sieve.  As  fast  as  the  specie  ar- 
rived, it  was  re-shipped,  to  pay  the  enormous  balance 
against  the  United  States,  and  to  purchase  merchan- 
dise in  India  and  China,  the  great  gulfs  of  the  specie 
of  the  western  world.*  With  this  specie  went  a  large 
portion  of  that  which  was  in  the  country  at  the  close 
of  the  warf  :  and  such  was  the  pressure  on  the  bank 

*  The  importation  of  specie  from  the  United  States  into  China 

alone  in  three  years,  amounted  to  above  17,000,000,  viz. 

1816-17,  g  4,572,000 

17-18,  5,300,000 

18-19,  7,414,000 


S  17,286,0001 
t  On  the  1st  of  July,  1814,  five  banks  in  the  town  of  Boston^ 

had  no  less  than  ^5,468, 604  dollars  in  specie  in  their  vaults. 
^  Report  of  a  select  committee  of  the  House  of  Lords,  1821, 

page  93. 


61 

of  the  United  States  for  specie,  that  it  was  obliged,  in 
the  following  August,  to  cease  receiving  the  notes  of 
its  branches. 

Flour  averaged  per  barrel,  in  1817,  S  12.00* 
Tobacco,  per  hogshead,  -  -  148,00* 
Sea  Island  Cotton,  per  pound,  '  -  .40* 
Upland  Cotton, 26  1-2* 

This  flourishing  state  of  agriculture  deprived  the 
farmers  and  planters  in  congress  of  an  apology  which 
has  been  since  employed  to  extenuate  their  disregard 
of  the  distresses  of  their  fellow-citizens — I  mean  the 
depression  which  has  lately  taken  place  in  the  price  of 
all  these  articles,  whereby  they  suffer  nearly  as  much 
as  the  manufacturers. 

It  is  perfectly  obvious,  that  a  farmer  who  sold  his 
flour  at  twelve  dollars  per  barrel — or  a  planter  who 
sold  tobacco  at  one  hundred  and  forty-eight  dollars  pe  r 
hogshead,  or  cotton  at  twenty-six  and  a  half  cents 
per  pound,  could  well  afford,  without  any  great  pre- 
tensions to  extraordinary  liberality,  to  pay  a  trifle  ex- 
tra for  the  manufactures  of  his  fellow-citizens,  who 
gave  him  such  extravagant  prices  for  his  produce, 
more  especially  as  tlie  farmers  and  planters  had  the 
exclusive  supply  of  the  domestic  market.  And  their 
obduracy  on  this  point,  will  remain  an  indelible  stig- 
ma on  the  successive  congresses  to  whom  the  fruit- 
less applications  were  made. 

Surely,  as  the  farmers  and  planters  had  the  exclu- 
sive supply  of  their  fellow-citizens,  it  would  not  have 
been  unreasonable,  had  the  latter  demanded  even  the 
exclusive  market  for  their  own  productions.  This 
stipulation,  extraordinary  as  it  may  seem,  would  be 
nothing  more  than  a  mere  reciprocation  of  benefits. 
But  no  such  arrangement  was  proposed  or  expected. 
All  that  was  required  was,  that  they  should  be  pro- 
tected in  the  enjoyment  of  a  due  share  of  the  domes- 
tic market. 

*  Report  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury.  _ 


62 

—1818.— 
Flour  and  cotton  this  year  maintained  high  prices. 
Flour  averaged  per  barrel,  810.001 

Sea  Island  cotton  per  lb.  .SQf 

Upland  cotton,  .32t 

But  a  very  considerable  increase  in  the  quantity  of 
tobacco  exported,  produced  a  great  reduction  of  the 
price  of  that  article.  It  fell  from  148  dollars  to  116 
dollars  per  hogshead.  The  quantity  exported  in  1817, 
viz.  62,365  hogsheads,  produced  89,250,020 — 
whereas  84,337  hogsheads,  exported  in  1818,  pro- 
duced only  9,867,429  dollars. 

However,  the  price  of  tobacco,  as  well  as  those  of 
the  other  great  staples,  were  still  sufficiently  high  to 
warrant  the  farmers  and  planters  to  make  some  sacri- 
fices to  rescue  their  brethren  from  ruin.  But  their 
hearts  were  closed  against  their  claims. 

Calculations  were  made  in  and  out  of  congress,  to 
prove  that  the  protection  of  manufactures  was  amply 
adequate.  All  the  rules  of  arithmetic  were  pressed 
into  the  service  for  this  purpose.  And  to  hear  the 
debates  on  the  subject,  one  might  be  tempted  to  be- 
lieve, that  the  manufacturers  became  bankrupts,  and 
had  their  property  sacrificed  for  a  fourth  or  fifth  of  its 
cost,  merely  out  of  waywardness  and  spite,  in  order 
to  belie  the  profound  calculations  of  these  wise 
arithmeticians. 

But  unfortunately,  those  great  political  economists 
only  took  into  view  the  prices  at  which  merchandise 
could  be  introduced  into  the  country  by  regular  im- 
porters, able  and  willing  to  pay  for  ii.  They  ne- 
ver condescended  to  consider  the  immense  quantities 
of  foreign  goods  forced  into  our  ports  through  the  ne- 
cessities or  the  cupidity  of  foreign  merchants,  and 
sold  at  vendue,  below  first  cost,  whereby  our  markets 
were  inordinately  glutted,  and  our  own  citizens  ex- 
cluded from  a  fair  chance  of  sale  in  their  native 
country. 

t  Treasury  Report,  1818. 


63 

—1819.— 
This  year  capped  the  climax  of  the  distress  of  the 
manufacturers,  and  spread  ruin  and  desolation  in  eve- 
ry direction.  There  is  reason  to  believe  that  from 
90  to  l(;0,000  workmen  were  actually  thrown  idle, 
in  this  and  the  preceding  two  years,  and  either  driven 
to  labour  at  ai^riculture  in  the  country — or  on  the 
highways.  In  many  cases  they  worked  on  the  turnpike 
roads  at  the  rate  of  12  cents  per  day,  and  their  vic- 
tuals. The  number  thrown  out  of  employment  in 
Pittsburg,  Philadelphia,  and  in  the  state  of  Rhode 
Island,  was  as  follows  : — 

Philadelphia,  about  persons,  11,288 

Pittsburg,  -  -  1,288 

Rhode  Island,  -  11,337 


23,725 
The  devastation  elsewhere  was  on  the  same  scale — 
but,  not  possessing  details,  I  cannot  form  any  satisfac- 
tory estimate. 

Flour  and  cotton  fell  considerably  this  year — but 
still  supported  prices  which  amply  compensated  for  the 
labour  bestowed  on  them. 

Flour  averagtd  per  barrel,  -  S8.00* 

Sea  Island  cotton,  -  -  .46* 

Upland  cotton,  -  -  .22* 

The  reduction  of  the  cotton  was  above  thirty  per 

cent,  since    last  year — and    spread  ruin   among  the 

planters  and  exporters  of  the  article.     The  former 

had  predicated  their  expenses  on  the  old  prices,  and 

felt  their  incomes  at  once  reduced  nearly  one  third, 

equal  to  about  7,000,000  of  dollars.     The  latter  had 

made  immense  purchases  at  the  high  rates,  and  it  is 

computed  lost  about  4,000,000  of  dollars. 

Tobacco  fell  to  Si  10  per  hogshead — and  the  reduc- 
tion during  this  and  the  preceding  year,  made  dreadful 
havoc  among  many  of  the  most  estimable  ^nd  re- 
spectable families  in  Virginia. 

•  Report  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury. 


64 

—1820 

This  year  produced  further  reductions  in  the  prices 
of  the  three  great  staples  of  the  nation — and  brought 
home  to  the  doors  of  the  farmers  and  planters  a  por- 
tion of  the  distress  which,  with  an  unpitying  eye,  they 
had  for  years  beheld  raging  among  their  brethren. 

P'lour  per  barrel  averaged  ^    4.50* 

Tobacco  per  hogshead,  95.00* 

Sea  Island  cotton  per  lb.  .32* 

Upland,  '.16* 

The  reduction  of  the  last  article  was  full  fifty  per 
cent,  from  the  year  1818. 

Thus  has  this  nation,  at  the  expense  of  probably 
from  100  to  150,000,000  of  dollars — and  of  an  incal- 
culable amount  of  human  happiness,  realized  the  ad- 
monitory fable  of  the  belly  and  the  members.  The 
farmers  and  planters  were  excited  by  artful  or  mis- 
guided men  to  regard  their  brethren  with  as  dead- 
ly a  jealousy  as  the  people  of  rival  nations  feel  for 
each  other.  In  many  cases,  it  was  carried  to  the  ex- 
treme length  of  indignation  and  hatred,  f  They  flatter- 
ed themselves  with  the  idea  of  deriving  immense  ad- 
vantages from  "  purchasing  goods  abroad  cheaper  than 
they  could  be  manufactured  at  home."  And  having 
the  legislation  in  their  own  hands,  they  shut  their  ears 
against  the  cries,  and   their  hearts  against  the  suffer- 

*  Report  of  the  secretary  of  the  treasury. 

t  The  rancorous  spirit  displayed  by  some  members  of  con- 
gress, at  the  time  when  the  tariff  of  1816,  was  enacted,  is  scarce- 
ly credible.  One  gentleman,  remarkable  for  his  intrepid  disre- 
gard of  the  common  forms  of  society,  in  his  interminable  and 
amusingly-diversified  orations,  after  a  long  and  desultory  ha- 
rangue, of  which  the  burden  was — "  extortion — extortion — ex- 
tortion*'— made  a  solemn  asseveration,  that  he  not  only  never 
Avould  wear,  but  not  even  allow  any  of  his  slaves  to  wear  a  yard 
of  American  cloth.  This  amiable  gentleman,  so  indignant  at 
the  extortion  of  the  manufacturers,  sold  his  crop  of  tobacco 
that  very  year  at  thirty  cents  per  lb.  "  Thou  hypocrite,''  says 
Jesus  Christ, "  first  take  the  beam  out  of  thine  own  eye,  and 
then  thou  shalt  see  clearly  to  cast  out  the  mote  out  of  thy  bro- 
ther's eye."     Matt.  vii.  5. 


65 

ings  of  their  fellow  citizens.  Of  the  chalice  of  wretch- 
edness which  they  presented  to  the  lips  of  their  breth- 
ren, they,  particularly  the  farmers,  have  drunk  deep- 
ly. Happy,  thrice  happy  will  it  be,  if  even  at  this  late 
day,  they  profit  by  the  warning  example  which  they 
hold  out  to  mankind,  that  iiliberality  and  injustice  ge- 
nerally recoil  on  the  heads  of  those  by  whom  they  are 
perpetrated. 

The  shrewd  policy  of  the  Dutch  in  destroying  the 
superfluous  quantity  of  spices  in  years  when  the  crops 
were  very  abundant, — has  been  a  subject  of  admira- 
tion, as  displaying  a  thorough  knowledge  of  human 
nature  and  of  the  principles  of  trade.  The  conduct  of 
our  agriculturists  has  been  in  direct  hostility  with 
this  policy,  and  severely  have  they  suffered  for  it.  The 
depression  of  manufactures,  in  consequence  of  their 
successful  opposition  to  affording  them  adequate  pro- 
tection^  has  greatly  increased  the  number  of  farmers, 
and  consequently  the  productions  of  the  earth,  and 
converted  valuable  customers  into  formidable  rivals. 

The  preceding  views  afford  two  striking  illustra- 
tions of  this  position.  I  have  already  noted  the  case 
of  the  increase,  and  consequent  fall  of  price  of  to- 
bacco in  1818 — and  now  request  attention  to  that  of 
flour  in  1820.  In  1817,  1818,  and  1819,  as  I  have 
already  stated,  there  were  about  100,000  manufactur- 
ers thrown  out  of  employment,  chiefly  in  the  last  year. 
Many  of  them  went  back  to  cultivate  the  soil,  and 
thus  greatly  increased  the  surplus  for  exportation  in 
1820.  Mark  the  result- 
In  1819,   there  were   only  750,660  barrels  of 

flour  exported,  which  produced,  86,005,280* 

In  1820,  the  exportation  amounted  to  1,1  yyiOSe 

barrels,  which  produced  only  §5,296,664* 

The  quantity  was  increased  above  fifty  per  cent. — 
and  the  amount  reduced  above  ten  per  cent. 

There  are  two  points  in  this  case  that  appear  de- 
serving of  the  most  serious  consideration.     The  first 

*  See  Reports  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury. 
9 


66 

is,  that  the  extra  quantity  in  1820,  of  420,000  barrels, 
was  very  probably  raised  by  the  number  of  manufac- 
turers driven  to  agriculture,  so  perniciously  for  the 
farmers.  And  the  second,  that  had  the  quantity  ex- 
ported in  1820  not  exceeded  that  of  the  preceding 
year,  it  would  probably  have  commanded  as  high  a 
price,  viz.  eight  dollars,  instead  of  selling  at  four  and 
a  half. 

The  reduction  of  price,  three  and  a  half  dollars  per 
barrel,  amounting  to  above  82,600,000,  was  not  the 
total  loss  to  the  farming  interest.  The  reduction 
extended  to  the  whole  quantity  sold  at  home,  proba- 
bly 8,000,000  of  barrels,  making  a  further  difference 
to  that  interest  of  828,000,000. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

Very  erroneous  idea  entertained  of  the  tariffs  of  the 
United  States.  Decisive  protection  of  agriculture. 
Disregard  of  manufactures.     Shocking  contrast. 

An  idea  prevails  pretty  generally  throughout  the 
United  States,  among  the  agriculturists,  that  from  the 
adoption  of  the  federal  constitution  till  the  present 
time,  manufactures  have  experienced  the  fostering 
care  of  government,  and  been  protected  by  extravagant 
duties  ;  that  those  duties  have  borne  oppressively  on 
the  farmers  and  planters,  *'  taxing  the  many  for  the 
benefit  of  the  few  ;''"'  and  finally,  that  there  is  no  reci- 
procity in  the  system,  as  the  fruits  of  the  earth  have 
not  been  protected  by  duties. 

Errors  on  topics  of  this  importance,  are  liable  to 
produce  jealousies  and  heart-burnings  between  mem- 
bers of  the  same  common  family.     It  is  therefore  a 


67 

duty  to  society  to  investigate  the  subject,  and  ascer- 
tain on  what  ground  those  opinions  rest. 

I  hope  to  make  it  satisfactorily  appear,  that  they  are 
not  only  not  true,  but  the  very  reverse  of  truth — and 
that  agriculture,  at  the  outset  of  the  government,  has 
had,  and  still  continues  to  enjoy,  far  better  protection 
than  manufactures. 

I  shall  present  a  slight  view  of  the  first  tariff,  and 
then  examine  the  one  at  present  in  force. 

At  the  date  of  the  first  tariff,  cotton  was  fifteen 
pence  sterling  in  Jamaica  and  the  other  West  India 
islands.*  This  is  exactly  27.66  cents.  The  duty 
imposed  on  it — not,  let  it  be  observed,  to  protect  an 
existing  industry,  but  merely  in  the  hope,  then  fondly 
cherished,  and  since  so  very  happily  realized,  that 
our  southern  citizens  would  be  able  to  raise  it — was 
three  cents,  very  nearly  eleven  per  cent.  Now  the 
duty  on  cotton  goods  of  every  kind,  imposed  by  that 
tariff,  was  only  jive  per  cent.  Thus  at  the  very 
threshold  of  the  government,  a  bulky  raw  material, 
subject  probably  to  seven  or  eight  per  cent,  freight, 
was  tariffed  above  one  hundred  per  cent,  higher,  to  en- 
courage the  agriculturists  to  commence  a  new  species 
of  cultivation,  than  the  article  manufactured  from  it, 
of  which  the  freight  was  probably  not  one  per  cent, 
and  the  manufacture  of  which  had  been  some  time  in 
operation.  This  is  a  most  striking  instance  of  parti- 
ality and  inequality,  very  discreditable  to  the  first 
congress.  So  far,  therefore,  the  general  impression 
on  this  subject,  is  utterly  destitute  of  foundation. 

On  hemp  was  imposed  a  duty  of  sixty  cents  per 
cwt.  equal  to  about  twelve  per  cent,  whereas  manufac- 
tures of  hemp,  like  those  of  cotton,  were  only  subject 
to  Jive  per  cent. 

Indigo  paid  sixteen  cents,  which  was  about  sixteen 
per  cent. 

The  duty  on  cheese  was  four  cents  per  lb.  which 
was  equal  to  about  JiJtt/'Seve7i  per  cent, 

•  See  Edwards's  History  of  the  West  Indies,  Vol.  III.  p.  95. 


68 

To  secure  the  tobacco  planters  the  exclusive  supply 
of  the  domestic  market,  there  was  a  duty,  absolutely 
prohibitory,  imposed  on  snufF  and  manufactured  to- 
bacco— on  the  former,  ten  cents  per  lb.  equal  to  ninety 
per  cent. — on  the  latter  six  cents,  equal  to  one  hundred 
per  cent. 

The  end  proposed  by  these  extravagant  duties, 
which  were  seventeen  hundred  per  cent,  more  than  on 
nearly  every  species  of  manufactures,  was  completely 
answered  ;  as  the  importation  of  snuff  and  tobacco 
into  this  country,  from  the  year  1789  to  the  present 
time,  has  been  utterly  insignificant.  And  yet  it  is  as 
lamentable  as  astonishing,  that  many  of  the  tobac- 
co planters,  thus  secured  in  the  exclusive  domestic 
market,  by  most  exorbitant  duties,  have  been  among 
the  most  ardent  opposersofany  species  of  reciprocation 
by  even  very  moderate  ones,  in  favour  of  their  manu- 
facturing breti»ren.  Alas  !  poor  human  nature  !  how 
rarely  is  the  divine  precept — "  Do  unto  others  as  you 
would  have  them  do  to  you,"  carried  into  operation  ! 

And  finally,  the  interests  of  the  farmers  were  most 
liberally  guarded.  To  secure  them  a  grand  market 
in  distillation  for  their  oats,  rye,  peaches,  apples,^  &c. 
and  also  to  secure  them  one  equally  important  for  their 
ptarh  brandy,  rye  whiskey,  &.c.  &c.  enormous  duties, 
amounting  to  60,  80,  100,  and  even  120  per  cent,  were 
imposed  on  imported  spirits. 

At  this  period  the  great  mass  of  manufactured  ar- 
ticles, probably  nineteen  twentieths,  were,  like  the  two 
above  specified,  protected,  as  it  is  absurdly  styled, 
by  the  paltry  duty  of  five  per  cent. 

It  requires  no  great  degree  of  liberality  for  any  man, 
whether  farmer,  planter,  manufacturer,  or  merchant, 
who  examines  the  preceding  statement,  to  acknow- 
ledge— and  no  man  of  character  will  dare  deny — that 
this  was  a  most  sinister  legislation,  partial  in  the  ex- 
treme to  the  legislators  themselves,  and  making  a 
shameful  sacrifice  of  the  dearest  interests  of  their  fel- 
low citizens,  who  had  risked  their  lives,  and  shed  their 


69 


blood,  to  establish  that  independence,  of  some  of  the 
choicest  of  whose  blessings  they  were  thus  debarred ; 
those  blessings  1  mean,  which  are  involved  in  the  se- 
curity of  property  and  in  the  right  of  acquiring  it.  It 
adds  one  to  the  numberless  instances  on  record,  to 
prove  that  unrepresented  bodies  scarcely  ever  ex- 
perience *'  even-handed  justice"  from  those  who  legis- 
late for  them. 

All  the  successive  tariffs  bear  the  same  unerring 
stamp  of  partiality  and  injustice — of  sacred  regard  for 
self — and  sacrifice  of  fellow  citizens.  But  it  would 
extend  farther  than  my  proposed  limits  to  prosecute 
the  examin  ition  throughout.  1  shall  therefore  confine 
myself  to  the  tariff  now  in  existence,  which  presents  a 
*'  most  hideous  contrast"  in  point  of  protection. 

DUTIES    FOR    THE    PROTECTION    OF    AGRICULTURE,  BY  THE 


Muscovado  sugar 

Molasses 

Dutch  cheese 

English  cheese 

Cotton 

Manufact'd  tobacco 

Snuff 


EXISTING  TARIFF. 

Per  cent. 

100* 
30  to  40 
90 


40  to  50 

S3  to  40 

60 

90 


Gin 

Brandy 

West  India  rum 

Jamaica  rum 

Hemp 

Potatoes 


Per  cent. 

140 

90 

110 

75 

27 
15 


DUTIES    FOR    THE    PROTECTION    OF    MANUF ACTURE-S. 

M  fifteen  per  cent. 


Creas  a  Morlaix 

Damasks 

Diaper  bagging,  flax 

Russia  diapers 

German  dowlas 

German  Hessians 

Flax  osnaburgs 

Brown  Holland,  flax 

Brown  rolls 

Stripes 

Brown  platilhis 

Rouans 

German  bed-ticking 

*  Muscovado  sugar  at  the 
about  three  dollars  per  104lb. 


Bombazets 

Sarsenets 

Satins 

Silks 

Silk  shawls 

Canton  crapes 

Crape  dresses 

Chambray,  silk  and  cotton 

Chambray  gauzes 

Camlets 

Calimancoes 

Shalloons 

Rattinets 

Havanna,  January  20,  1822,  wa? 
The  duty  is  three  cents. 


70 

Globes  Wildbores 

Gold  leaf  Moreens 

Hair  powder  Bandanoes 

Linen  or  silk  gloves  Woollen  blankets 

Silk,  thread,  or  flax  half  hose,  Manufactures  of  whalebone 

Muft's  and  tippets  Table  cloths,  flax 

Ribands  Choppa  romals 

Madras  handkerchiefs  Snuff  boxes 

Thread  stockings  Starch,  8cc. 

M  twenty  per  cent. 

Anvils  Earthen  ware 

Fire  and  side  arms  China 

Cannon  Westphalia,  Bremen,  or  Eng- 
Iron  cables  lish  sail  cloth 

Spades  Wool  and  cotton  cards 

Manufactures   of   iron,  steel,  Cotton  Stockings 

pewter,  tin,  and  brass  Hempen  sail  cloth 

Candlesticks,  Japanned  or  Li-  English  duck 

verpool  ware  Woollen,    cotton,  or   worsted 
Stone  ware  hose. 

Pottery 

M  twenty -jive  per  cent. 

Manufactures  of  copper  Fearnoughts 

Cotton  twist  Worsted  gloves 

Cotton   cloths,    of  twenty-live  Kerseymeres 

cents    per  square  yard,   or  Carpets  and  Carpeting 

above  Cashmere  shawls 

Broad  cloths  Swanskins. 

At  thirty  per  cent. 

Manufactures  of  leather  hats  Carriages 

Clothing  ready  made  Cabinet-ware 

Duties  imposed  merely  for  sake  of  revenue. 

Bohea  tea  120  per  cent.  Coff'ee  40  per  ceiit. 

Salt  180 

From  a  view  of  the  above  extracts,  it  appears  that 
the  operation  of  the  tariff  is  most  shockingly  oppres- 
sive to  the  poor,  and  equally  partial  in  favour  of  the 
rich.  If  this  be  correct,  as  I  hope  to  make  appear,  it 
is  entitled  to  unqualified  censure. 

To  remove  all  doubt  on  this  subject,  I  annex  a 
statement  of  imported  articles,  to  the  amount  of  300 
dollars,  consumed  by  the  poor  and  labouring  classes — 
and  of  an  equal  amount,  consumed  by  the  rich,  with 
the  duties  on  each  respectively. 


71 

Cost.  Duty. 

Muscovado  sugar,       -             -         glOO  ^  S   100 

Bohea  tea,         -                 -                   100  120 

Salt,         -                 -                   -          100  180 


Cost,  g  300  Duty,  g  400 

Per  contra.  Cost.  Duty. 

Silks,    sattins,   bonibazets,   bomba- 

zeens,  sarsenets, canton  crapeSjSic.  S  100  %  15 

China,  woollen  hose,  elegant  cut- 
lery, giiandoles,  Sec.  100  20 

Cashmere  and  merino  shawls,  Brus- 
sels carpets,  superfine  broad 
cloths,  chintzes,  calicoes,  8cc.  100  25 

Cost,  gSOO       Duty,  g  60 

Can  there  be  found  a  man  in  the  United  States — or 
in  the  wide  world — who  can  reflect  on  this  most  extra- 
ordinary statement  without  indignation?  The  duties 
on  the  articles  either  exclusively  or  chiefly  used  by  the 
poor  and  working  classes,  whose  sole  inheritance  is 
the  labour  of  their  hands,  and  who  have  to  support 
themselves  and  families  on  four,  five,  six,  or  seven  dol- 
lars per  week,  considerably  exceed  the  first  cost,  even 
on  necessaries  of  life.  Whereas  the  duties  on  articles 
used  wholly  by  the  middle  and  wealthy  classes  of  our 
citizens,  some  of  them  pernicious  luxuries,  average 
only  20  per  cent,  of  the  cost.  No  age  or  nation  ever  wit- 
nessed a  much  more  shameful  abuse  of  power — a  more 
unfeeling  disregard  for  the  rights  of  the  poor — or  a 
more  complete  violation  of  every  principle  of  sound 
policy.  The  duty  on  one  hundred  dollars  worth  of 
muscovado  sugar,  is  nearly  as  high  as  on  seven  hundred 
dollars  worth  of  silks,  sattins,  bombazets,  bomba- 
zines, &:c.  and,  shocking  to  relate,  the  duty  on  one  hun- 
dred dollars  worth  of  bohea  tea^  is  nearly  equal  to  that 
on  five  hundred  dollars  worth  of  superfine  cloth,  Brus- 
sels carpets,  chintzes,  calicoes,  SsV.  and  the  duty  on 
one  hundred  dollars  worth  of  salt  is  equal  to  that  on 
seven  hundred  dollars  worth  of  those  articles. 

It  is  a  melancholy  fact,  that  the  cotton  and  su- 


72 

gar  planters,  who  have  amassed  wealth  for  years, 
with  a  rapidity  scarcely  ever  exceeded,  and  who  are 
protected  by  enormous  duties,  have,  nevertheless, 
with  few  exceptions,  steadily  resisted  all  the  appli- 
cations of  their  fellow  citizens,  not  for  50,  or  60,  or 
70  per  cent,  protection,  but  for  25,  33,  or  40.  I  appeal 
to  the  sugar  planters — such  citizens  as  the  respectable 
James  Brown,  Esq.  of  Louisiana — enjoying  annual  in- 
comes, from  5  to  15,000  dollars  per  annum,  under  the 
liberal  protection  of  a  duty  of  one  hundred  per  cent,  on 
an  article,  the  freight  of  which  is  probably  thirty  per 
cent.  ;  how  can  they  justify  themselves  to  the  world 
and  to  their  own  consciences,  in  aiding  to  vote  down 
a  proposition  to  afford  a  protection  of  twenty-five  per 
cent,  to  manufacturers  of  brass,  iron,  steel,  linens,  &c. 
and  of  thirty-three  per  cent,  to  the  manufacturers  of 
chintzes  and  broad  cloths  ? 

Is  it  not  to  the  last  degree  preposterous  that 
hemp,  a  ravv  material,  should  pay  a  duty  of  twenty- 
seven  per  cent.^ — and  Russia  and  ravensduck,  made 
of  hemp,  pay  but  fifteen* — that  cotton  should  pay  a 
duty  of  33  to  40  per  cent. — and  cotton  stockings  but 
twenty — and  chintzes  and  calicoes  but  twenty- five — 
that  Dutch  cheese  should  pay  ninety  per  cent. — and 
such  a  variety  of  manufactures  of  brass,  iron,  steel, 
&CC.  pay  but  twenty  ?  In  one  word,  that  linens,  silks, 
cambrics,  and  thread  stockings,  should  pay  only  the 
same  duty  as  potatoes  ? 

I  siiall  now  attempt  a  brief  analysis  of  the  principal 
features  of  this  tariff — 

1.  The  articles  interfering  with  the  interests  of  agri- 
culture, as  cotton,  spirits,  ciieese,  hemp,  tobacco,  su- 
gar, &,c.  for  which  the  great  freights  would  be  almost 
full  protection,  are  burdened  with  high,  and,  in  many 
instances,  exorbitant  duties,  from  40  to  140  per  cent. 

2.  The  articles  which  interfere  with,  paralize,  and 
destroy  manufacturing  industry,  as  manufactures  of 
iron,  steel,  copper,  brass,  tin,  flax,  cotton,  and  wool, 

*  Old  and  new  tariffs  compared. 


73 

are  admitted  at  low  duties,  from  15  to  33  per  cent,  as 
if  to  inviie  importation,  for  the  mere  purpose  of  re- 
venue, without  any  regard  to  the  welfare  of  the  manu- 
facturers. 

3.  On  all  those  articles  which  do  not  interfere  with 
the  industry  of  the  nation,  either  agricultural  or  ma- 
nufacturing, as  tea,  coffee,  pepper,  spires,  salt,  wines, 
&c.  the  duties  are  ,8:enerally  exorbitant,  from  40  to  l'-20 
per  cent,  notwithstanding  the  terrifying  alarm  of  the 
awful  danger  of  smuggling,  b}'  raising  the  duties  on 
manufactures  to  23  or  33  per  cent. 

4.  Some  raw  materials  for  our  most  important  es- 
tablishments, are  dutied  higher  than  the  articles  ma- 
nufactured from  them. 

5.  The  tariff  is  admirably  calculated  to  foster  the 
industry,  and  support  the  governments  of  foreign 
nations — to  impoverish  our  citizens,  and  render  them 
hewers  of  wood  and  drawers  of  water  to  those  nations 
— to  discourage  immigration — and  to  arrest  the 
United  States  in  their  career  to  prosperity  and  great- 
ness. 

6.  Necessaries  of  life,  used  exclusively,  or  chiefly 
by  the  poor,  such  as  muscovado  sugar  and  bohea 
tea,  are  subject  to  100  or  120  per  cent,  duty, — where- 
as luxuries,  used  exclusively  by  the  middle  and  wealthy 
classes  ofsociety,  as  silks,  satins,  merino  and  cashmere 
shawls,  china,  fine  cutlery,  &c.  are  admitted  at  low  du- 
ties, 15,  20  and  25  per  cent. 

Yet  this  is  the  miserable  tariff,  suchan  outrage  on 
common  sense,  and  common  justice,  upon  which  the 
committee  on  manufactures  lately  made  a  solemn 
report,  that  "  it  was  not  necessary  to  legislate  on  the 
subject.^^'  Surely  it  hes  rarely  happened  that  a  com- 
mittee of  a  legislative  body  has  put  on  record  a  more 
unfounded  declaration.  For  never  did  a  tariff  more 
fully  require  revision  than  this,  almost  every  leading 
feature  of  which  bears  strong  marks  ofpartiality,  in- 
justice, or  impolicy. 

10 


74 


CHAPTER  VII. 

Danger  qfsmuggling  assigned  as  a  reason  for  rejecting 
the  protection  of  manufactures.  Fallacy  of  it.  Du- 
ties of  Mr.  Baldwin^s  tariff.  Extravagant  duties 
on  spirits,  wines,  teas,  pepper,  is'c. 

Among  the  reasons  assigned  in  and  out  of  congress, 
and  enforced  with  great  zeal,  against  Mr.  Baldwin's 
tariff,  it  was  most  confidently  asserted  that  high  du- 
ties on  imported  articles  would  produce  smuggling 
and  that  great  demoralization  would  thence  ensue. 
This  objection  has  played  a  distinguished  part  from  the 
organization  of  the  government  to  the  present  time, 
whenever  there  was  a  question  of  raising  the  duties, 
even  in  early  times,  when  they  were  generally  but 
five,  or  seven  and  a  half,  or  ten  per  cent.  It  has  re- 
peatedly aided  most  powerfully  to  defeat  the  applica- 
tions of  the  manufacturers,  and  at  various  periods 
consigned  immoderate  numbers  of  them  to  bank- 
ruptcy.    It  therefore  demands  a  severe  scrutiny. 

The  points  to  be  attended  to  in  this  discussion  are, 
to  ascertain  what  the  duties  proposed  in  Mr.  Bald- 
win's tariff  really  were — to  compare  them  with  exist- 
ing duties — and  then  to  drt»w  a  fair  inference. 

The  ad-valorem  duties  proposed  by  the  new 
tarifl",  were  at  20,  25,  30,  35,  and  40  per  cent.  I  an- 
nex the  principal  articles. 

At  twenty  per  cent. 
Gauzes  Pictures  and  prints. 

Looking  glasses  Gold  leaf,  Sec. 

At  twenty-five  per  cent. 
Fire  and  side  arms  Copper,  manufactures  of 

Brass,  iron,  or  steel  locks,  hin-     Duck  and  hemp  cloth 

ges,  anvils  and  vices  All  articles  of  which  iron,  brass 

Brass,  other  manufactures  of  or  steel  is  the  chief  value 

Buckles  Linens,  plain,  vv'hite  or  printed 

Cards,  wool  and  cotton  Sail  cloth,  8cc. 


75- 

M  thirty  per  cent. 
Manufactures  of  India  silk,  &c. 

»9t  thirty -three  per  cent. 
All   fine   cotton  goods,  other     Woollen  manufactures,  &c. 
than  India 

Jit  thirty -Jive  per  cent. 

Coaches  Leather,  tanned,  and  manufac- 

Earthen  and  stone  ware  tures  of 

Cut  glass  Marble  and  stone  tables 

Gold  plated  ware  Millinery  ready  made 

Bonnets  and  caps  for  women  Printed  books 

Silver  plated  ware  Saddles,  bridles,  &c. 

dt  forty  per  cent. 

India  cottons  Hats  of  every  kind 

Clothing  ready  made  Nankeens. 

These  are  the  chief  of  the  ad- valorem  duties  pro 
posed  by  this  tremendous  tariff,  which  from  their  ex- 
orbitance were  to  demoralize  our  citizens,  by  the  intro- 
duction of  smuggling,  and  which  in  consequence  ex- 
cited such  an  outcry  throughout  the  nation  !      , 

Now,  I  presume  it  will  be  admitted  by  every  man 
of  candour,  if  various  duties  as  high  as  those  above 
stated  have  existed  since  the  commencement  of  the 
government,  without  any  dread  of  smuggling,  or  de- 
moralization, that  the  objection  was  wholly  destitute 
of  foundation,  and  unworthy  of  congress — and  that 
this  postulatum  acquires  vast  additional  force  if  duties 
50,  60,  70,  80,  90,  and  100  per  cent,  higher,  are  at 
this  hour  collected  on  other  articles. 

With  what  propriety  these  duties  were  rejected, 
under  the  idea  of  the  danger  of  smuggling,  will 
appear  from  the  following  statement  of  existing 
duties — 

Per  cent.*  Per  cent. 

Salt                                       180  Coffee  is  subject  to  a 

Pepper                                   100  duty  equal  to  from  40  to  50 

Mace                                      60  Madeira  wine                50  to  60 

*  The  per  centage  of  these  duties  is  taken  from  ♦'  Old  and 
new  tariffs  compared^^  except  those  on  salt  and  teas. 


76 

Pimento  50  Catalonia  40  to  60 

Gin  140  Bordeaux  50 

Nantz  brandy  90  Sherry  and  St.  Lucar  50  to  60 

Marseilles  110  Teneriffe  60 

W.I.  rum  100  Marseilles  75 

Jamaica  75  Sicily  50  to  75 

Bohea  tea  120t  Fayal  75  to  80 

Hyson  skin  12Ut 

Young  hyson  120t 

It  rarely  happens  that  a  plausible  reason  given  for 
incorrect  public  conduct,  can  so  ill  stand  the  test  of  ex- 
amination as  this  tremendous  spectre  of  smuggling  and 
its  concomitant,  demoralization.  It  will  seem  in  fuiure 
times  utterly  improbable,  if  not  impossible,  that  gene- 
ral credence  could  have  been  given  in  the  nineteenth 
century  to  the  idea  that  if  duties  of  twenty-five  per 
cent,  wert  imposed  on  manufactures  of  iron,  brass, 
steel,  copper,  lead  and  tin — thirty-three  per  cent,  on 
chintzes  and  broad  cloths — thirty  five  per  cent,  on 
pottery,  earthen,  and  stone  ware,  they  would  demo- 
ralize a  country  in  which  duties  of  120  per  cent,  were 
intrepidly  imposed  on  teas — 110  per  cent,  on  West 
India  rum — 140  per  cent,  on  gin — 180  per  cent,  on 
salt,  and  other  exorbitant  duties  on  various  articles, 
without  the  least  apprehension  of  smuggling  or  de- 
moralization. 

It  is  pretended  that  the  articles  subject  to  such 
high  duties,  are  not  easily  smuggled — ^ whereas  cot- 
ton and  woollen  goods  can  be  readily  introduced  clan- 
destinely— and  that  teas  being  usually  imported  in 
large  vessels,  the  evasion  of  the  revenue  laws  with  re- 
spect to  them,  is  very  difficult.  But  this  will  not  stand 
the  test  of  examination.  Cannot  teas  be  introduced  into 
the  VV.  Indies,  and  from  thence  or  from  Europe,  impor- 
ted clandestinely,  as  easily  as  cottons  or  woollens  ?    Is 

t  The  bohea  tea,  imported  into  Philadelphia,  in  the  Phoenix, 
Nov.  1820,  cost  10  and  11  cents.  The  duty  is  12  cents.  This 
is  exactly  120  per  cent,  on  the  low  priced.  Hyson  skin  cost 
22  to  23  cents — young  hyson  30  to  32  cents.  The  duty  on 
the  former  is  28  cents,  and  on  the  latter  40  These  duties 
are  above  120. 


77 

not  wine  as  easily  smuggled  as  manufactures  of  iron, 
steel,  copper  and  brass  ?  And  is  there  any  article 
more  difficult  to  smuggle  than  pottery,  on  which  the 
duty  is  only  twenty  per  cent  ?f 

The  immense  importations  of,  and  revenue  receiv- 
ed from,  tea  and  coffee  for  the  last  six  years,  notwith- 
standing the  exorbitant  duty  on  the  former  of  100  to 
120  per  cent.,  is  full  proof  that  those  who  have  assign- 
ed the  danger  of  smuggling  as  a  reason  against  rais- 
ing the  duties  on  cottons  and  woollens  to  33  per  cent, 
and  on  manufactures  of  steel,  iron,  brass,  copper,  tin 
and  lead,  to  tweniy-five  per  cent,  were  either  them- 
selves deceived,  or  deceived  the  world. 


TEAS. 

Imported. 

Consumed. 

Duty  paid. 

1815, 

5,075,430  lbs. 

2,172,940  lbs. 

S     950,209 

1816, 

7,076,346 

3,864,604 

1,274,176 

1817, 

« 

4,586,153 

1,484,549 

1818, 

6,349,133 

4,842,963 

1,531,749 

1819, 

7,182,084 

5,480,884 

1,737,450 

1820, 

* 

lbs. 

4,821,447 

1,568,414 

lbs. 

23,682,993 

25,768,991 

S8,546,547 

t  There  is  no  manufacture  whatever,  the  destruction  of  which 
reflects  more  discredit  on  our  government,  than  pottery — be- 
cause there  was  none  more  easily  fostered  to  maturity — and 
none,  of  which  the  raw  material  is  of  less  value.  Every  dollar 
received  for  it  would  be  clear  gain  to  the  country — and  the  dan- 
ger of  smuggling  and  demoralization,  the  widely-extended 
cloak,  under  which  so  many  other  manufactures  were  consign- 
ed to  ruin,  was  here  wholly  out  of  the  question.  Had  the  duty, 
instead  of  twenty  per  cent,  been  one  hundred  or  one  hundred 
and  forty,  as  on  tea  and  geneva,  there  would  not  have  been 
a  crate  of  it  smuggled  into  the  country.  Its  ruin  is,  there- 
fore, one  among  die  most  conspicuous  blots  on  the  escutcheon 
of  the  Congi-ess  of  1816  ;  which  body  will  descend  to  posterity 
with  the  reputation  of  having  done  this  nation  more  lasting  injury 
than  was  effected  by  hostile  armies.  To  this  Congress,  and  its 
tariff,  are  justly  due  nineteen-twentieths  of  the  distress  expe- 
rienced in  the  United  States  for  the  last  five  years. 

*  These  blanks  I  have  not  been  able  to  fill  up. 


78 

COFFEE 

Imported.                       Consumed.  Duty  paid. 

1815,  25,976,118  lbs.         14,253,319  lbs.  §1,423,331 

1816,  31,318,054                 17,809,018  1,100,686 

1817,  »                                  21,900,104  1,090,034 

1818,  28,993,565                19,199,403  959,970 

1819,  23,196,430                 20,825,869  1,041,293 
3520,         *                                 13,221,857  664,592 


lbs.  109,484,167         lbs.  107,189,570  g6,l  89,906 

But  it  is  really  a  waste  of  time  to  encounter  this 
objection.  The  increase  of  duty,  proposed  by  Mr.  Bald- 
win's tariff,  would  only  average  about  ten  per  cent,  on 
all  the  important  manufactures — and  in  a  country, 
where  so  many  articles  are  tariffed  at  from  50  to  140 
per  cent.,  the  objection  is  as  complete  a  case  of 
*'  straining  at  gnats  and  swallowing  camels,"  as  the 
world  has  ever  witnessed. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

Another  objection  to  the  protection  of  manufactures. 
Extortion.  Its  impertinence  and  inconsistency. 

I  have  already  touched  incidentally  on  the  calum- 
nious accusation  of  extortion,  so  vociferously  and 
destructively  brought  forward  against  the  manufac- 
turers in  1816 — a  calumny  against  which  thousands 
whose  fathers'  hopes,  fortunes,  and  happiness,  were 
thereby  blighted  and  blasted,  will  have  cause  to  vent 
maledictions,  when  the  framers  of  the  tariff  have  sunk 
into  the  grave. 

With  v.'hat  has  been  stated,  I  might  close  the  sub- 
ject.    But  from  the  important  and  deleterious  conse- 

•  I  have  not  been  able  to  fill  up  these  blanks. 


79    - 

quences  which  have  flowed  from  this  calumny,  it  de- 
mands some  further  notice. 

In  order  to  show  with  what  peculiar  propriety  this 
accusation  was  brought  forward — how  very  pure  and 
immaculate  from  all  charge  of  "  extortion^^*  were  the 
hands  of  the  farmers  and  planters,  by  whom  this  alle- 
gation was  re-echoed  till  the  "  welkin  rang"  with  the 
sound,  I  submit  to  the  reader  the  prices  at  which 
the  great  staples  of  the  country  were  sold  at  different 
periods,  which  will  prove  that  it  was  just  as  appro- 
priate an  accusation  as  if  the  Gracchi,  or  Cataline,  had 
cited  Scipio  or  Cicero  to  the  tribunal  of  the  public, 
for  sowing  sedition,  and  plotting  revolutions.* 

FLOUR. 

In  the  year  1789,  the  average  price  of  flour 
throughout  the  United  States,  was,  per  bar- 
rel, $  4 

In  1790,  in  consequence  of  a  demand  in  Eu- 
rope, it  rose  to  6 

It  rose  subsequently,  in  five  or  six  years,  to  7, 
8,  9,  and  -  -  -  -  10 

In  1804  it  rose  to  -  -  -  llf 

During  certain  portions  of  the  following  years, 
it  sold  in  our  sea  ports  for  14  dollars.  But  it 
fell  subsequently  to  seven,  and  again  rose, 
in  1815,  to         -  -  -  8$ 

In  1816,  it  rose  to         -  -  -         10:|: 

In  18 17,  to  -  -  -  12| 

COTTON. 

Cotton  in  1814,  was  per  lb.  -  cents,  13§ 

in  1815,  it  rose  to        -  -  2o5 

in  1816,  to  -  -  -         27§ 

which  price  it  maintained  nearly  through  the 
whole  of  the  year  1817. 

*  "  Quis  tulerit  Gracchos  de  seditione  querentes  V— -Juvenal. 
t  Grotjan.  j:  Pitkin's  Tables,  page  112. 

§  Idem,  p.  133. 


80 

TOBACCO. 

Tobacco  in  1814,  averaged — per  hhd.  S74|| 

It  rose  in  1815,  to  961} 

And  in  1816,  to  the  very  extravagant  price  of     185|| 

What  warranted  these  extraordinary  advances  of 
price?  Was  any  superior  degree  of  labour  or  ca- 
pital required  for  the  cultivation  ?  The  man  would 
deserve  to  be  hooted  out  of  society  as  an  impostor, 
who  would  dare  to  make  use  of  such  a  sorry  pre- 
tence. What  was  it  then  ?  Why  merely  the  in- 
creased demand.  Was  this  an  adequate  reason  ?  Was 
it  righteous,  just  and  proper?  Surely  it  was.  The 
practice  of  the  whole  world,  in  all  ages,  has  sanctioned 
it.  Its  rectitude  or  fairness  has  never  been  called  in 
question. 

But  suppose  for  a  moment,  that  it  is  extortion ; 
has  the  farmer  or  planter  a  patent  right  to  "  extorf* 
on  the  manufacturer,  and  is  the  latter  precluded  from 
indemnifying  himself  by  returning  the  favour?  Is  he 
obliged  to  submit,  without  complaint  or  remon- 
strance, to  pay  one  or  two  hundred  per  cent,  advance 
for  flour,  or  cotton,  or  tobacco,  and,  if  he  make  a  fifth 
part  of  the  advance  on  his  articles,  to  be  afterwards 
arraigned  as  a  criminal,  in  a  court,  where  the  same 
men  are  accusers,  judges,  and  jury,  and  where  he  is 
not  allowed  to  utter  a  word  in  his  defence — but  must 
submit  in  silence,  to  vituperation  and  condemnation, 
as  a  lamb  led  to  the  slaughter  ?  Does  it  not  require  a 
most  extraordinary  degree  of  inconsistency  for  a  man 
who  doubles  or  trebles  the  price  of  his  produce,  to  vi- 
lify and  abuse  his  neighbours  for  an  advance  of  forty 
or  fifty  per  cent.,  were  this  procedure  adopted  on  the 
mere  ground  of  increased  demand,  even  if  the  raw 
materials  had  remained  at  the  old  prices,  instead  of 
being  enhanced  two  or  three  hundred  per  cent.,  and 
had  they  not  been  obliged  to  make  such  immense  in- 

II  Pitkin's  Tables,  page  130. 


81 

vestments  in  those  magnificent  buildings  and  compli- 
catfd  machinery,  whose  desolate  and  forlorn  state  in 
1817,  1818,  and  1819,  shed  indelible  discredit  on  the 
government  of  the  country  ?  There  is  nothing  much 
more  barefaced  in  the  motley  annals  of  human  per- 
versity and  inconsistency,  than  this  monstrous  charge 
of  extortion.* 


CHAPTER  IX. 

Other  objections  to  the  tariff.     Destruction  of  com- 
merce and  the  revenue. 

That  the  new  tariff  would  destroy  commerce,  was 
asserted  in  a  variety  of  memorials ;  in  Mr.  Cambre- 
leng's  Examination  of  the  New  Tariff;  and  in  the  de- 
bates of  congress,  in  as  broad  and  unqualified  a  way  as 
if  the  bill  had  contained  some  provisions  altogether 
prohibiting  importation. 

*  So  much  error  has  prevailed  on  this  point — and  so  perni- 
cious have  been  the  consequences  of  this  error — that  it  cannot 
be  too  fully  discussed.  A  further  note  on  it  may  therefore  be  par- 
doned. I  will  suppose  flour  at  six  dollars  per  barrel — to- 
bacco at  eighty  dollars  per  hogshead — cotton  at  sixteen  cents, 
and  wool  at  seventy -five  cents  per  pound — and  that  some  of  the 
events  in  Europe,  on  which,  unfortunately,  our  policy  suspend* 
the  decision  of  our  distress  or  prosperity,  cause  all  these  arti- 
cles to  rise  to  double  price.  If,  even  at  the  moment  when 
this  rise  of  price  takes  place,  a  farmer  or  planter  be  required 
to  pay,  not  double  price — but  an  advance  of  ten  or  twenty  per 
cent,  on  hats,  shoes,  saddles,  cottons  or  woollens,  which  advance 
is  predicated  on  the  rise  of  the  productions  of  the  earth,  he 
will  immediately  exclaim  against  "  extortion" — "  extortion," 
closing  his  eyes  to  the  "  extortion,''  if  "  extortion"  it  must  be 
styled,  of  which  he  has  been  guilty  himself  perhaps  the  day 
before.  Say  what  we  will  of  the  "  dignity  of  human  nature,'-- 
man  is  a  wretched  animal. 

u 


82 

"  To  prevent  the  importation  of  manufactures  would^  of 
"  course,  deprivt  the  revenue  ot  the  impost  now  derived 
"  from  them  :  and  an  equal  sum  must,  therefore,  in  order  to 
"  support  the  necessary  expenses  of  government,  be  raised 
"  by  some  other  direct  or  indirect  tax  on  the  people." — jRe- 
port  of  the  committee  of  merchants  and  others^  of  Boston^  on 
the  tariff. 

"  It  is  now  proposed  to  us  to  adopt  the  system  lonfv  since 
"practiced  by  the  British  government,  viz.  to  prohibit  im- 
'•'■  portations^  in  order  to  protect  our  own  manufactures," 
Sic. — Exaininati07i  of  the  Tariff.,  page  7. 

"  What  could  gratify  England  more  than  to  see  us  retire 
'■^from  the  ocean !  ! !  voluntarily  abandon  all  intercourse 
"  with  other  nations  I  !  !  and,  centering  ourselves  at  home, 
"  commence  a  taxing,  manufacturing  war  against  her  ?  To 
"  see  us  call  home  our  ships,  throw  our  arms  into  the  sea, 
"  and  adopt  the  very  system  which  she  feels  in  every  limb  ?" 
Idem.,  p.  104. 

"  If  our  laxvs  prohibit  importations^  the  farmer  must  ne- 
"cessarily  carry  his  produce  where  he  can  exchange  it  for 
"  the  articles  he  wants,  with  the  domestic  manufacturer." — 
Idem^  p.  112. 

"  If  we  expect  to  sell  every  thing.,  and  buy  nothing.,  we 
"  deal  too  much  in  visions  for  the  trade  of  this  world," — 
Idem.,  p.  121. 

"  'W\\tr\foreign  commerce  shall  be  extinguished — and  man 
*'  shall  be  taxed  here  as  elsewhere  "  in  all  the  joints  and  arti- 
"  culations  of  his  members,  from  the  top  of  his  head  to  the 
*'  sole  of  his  foot"  in  all  the  pains,  as  well  as  all  the  enjoy- 
"  ments  of  life ;  when  the  mouths  of  our  rivers  shall  be  barri- 
*'  caded  hy  guarda  costas^  and  their  shores  lined  by  armies  of 
'■^  doiianiers  ;  when  with  the  infinite  division  of  labour,  we 
"  have  acquired  the  hnbecility  and  misery  of  the  population  of 
*'  other  countries  similarly  situated.,  then,  dearly  as  we  love 
*'the  land,  we  too  shall  be  ready  to  emigrate  to  Angostura, 
"  to  the  mouth  of  the  Columbia,  to  Kamtschatka,  or  Terra 
"  del  Fuego,  or  wherever  our  freedom  shall  have  fled ;  for 
"  '  where  she  dwells,  there  is  our  country.'  "* 

Editors  National  Intelligencer.,  Jan.  29, 1822. 

Making  all  due  allowance  for  the  delusion  wliich 
party  feeling  and  strong  passions  create,  it  is  really 

*  To  those,  who,  with  Messrs.  Gales  and  Seaton,  are  torment- 
ed with  the  apprehension  of  being  (Uiveii  by  the  tariff  to  Terra 


83 

difficult  to  conceive  that  gentlemen  of  a  respectable 
grade  of  talent  could  believe  that  this  measure,  so 
much  deprecated,  could  produce  half  or  even  the  tenth 
part  of  the  ills  they  state.  But  although  such  a  cre- 
dence is  extraordinary,  it  is  not  impossible.  It  shall 
therefore  be  presumed  to  exist. 

In  order  to  allay  the  public  fears  on  this  subject,  it 
is  proper  to  give  the  subject  a  very  extensive  consi- 
deration. 

Our  importations  have  been,  as  already  stated,  gra- 
dually decreasing  for  two  or  three  years,  not  from  any 
increase  of  duties,  which  have  remained  stationary, 
but  from  the  general  impoverishment  of  the  country. 

In  order  to  ascertain  what  injury,  if  any,  the  pro- 
posed tariff  would  inflict  on  our  commerce,  it  is  ne- 
cessary to  ascertain  what  that  commerce  is.     I  there- 

<lel  Fuego,  or  Kamtschatka,  it  may  aftbrd  some  slender  consola- 
tion to  reflect  how  much  the  results  of  great  public  measures 
generally  differ  from  the  consequences  anticipated  from  them 
while  they  are  in  embryo.  To  pass  over  the  anticipations  of  the 
opposers  of  the  federal  constitution,  and  various  other  great 
measures  in  our  country,  the  Bank  of  England  affords  such  a 
happy  illustration  of  this  idea,  that  I  cannot  resist  the  tempta- 
tion of  laying  it  before  the  public. 

"  By  some  it  was  contended  that  it  jvas  impossible  to  erect  a 
"  bank  in  any  country  where  the  government  tvas  not  republican  ; 
"  and  if  once  established  in  England,  that  we  ran  the  utmost 
"  hazard  of  being  made  subject  to  a  commonwealth.  Others 
"  were  convinced  that  the  effect  would  be.io  render  the  king  at- 
"solute;  to  whom,  it  was  said,  the  monied  interest  would  natu- 
"  rally  adhere  for  encouragement  and  protection.  Some  under- 
"  took  to  prove  that  it  would  enha.ice  the  price  of  land,  and  ut- 
"  terly  discourage,  if  not  ruin,  trade ;  whilst  others  asserted, 
"  that  the  bank  would  prove  so  easy,  profitable,  and  secure,  for 
"  payments  and  receipts,  that  all  the  money  in  the  nation  would 
"  naturally  run  into  trade,  and  none  would  remain  either  to  piir- 
"  chase  or  to  improve  any  landed  property  in  the  kingdom  ;  but  it 
"  was  prophesied  at  the  time  that  the  ad  vantage  of  such  an  under- 
"  taking,  like  all  other  great  things  in  trade,  would  be  best  under- 
"  stood  from  experience.  And  the  time,"  it  was  said,  "  would 
"  come,  when  these  conceived  hobgoblins,  frightful  monsters, 
"  and  horrid  spectres,  with  which  same  are  possessed  about  it, 
"  should  vanish  and  be  no  more." — Sinclair's  Histwy  of  the  Me- 
vemie  of  the  British  Empire,  Vol.  HI.  p.  7. 


84 


fore  annex  a  statement  of  the  amount  of  our  imports, 
subject  to  ad  valorem  duties — and  of  the  whole 
amount  and  kinds  of  the  various  duties  received  into 
the  treasury  for  six  years. 


J815, 
1816, 
1817, 
1818, 
1819, 
1820, 


A         I         B        I 

Dollars.   |    Dollars.  | 

85,2^24,1 10!22,469,766' 

68,367,075:16,540,865 

41,816,141  ■  8,593,459 


C 

Dollars. 
11,151,212 

8,928,885 
8,937,052 


53,661,504  11,947,2601  8,503,291 
31,885,467  8,076,l6l}  8,617,117 
22,128,487;  4,420,9591  7,370,750 


D         I         E 

Dollars.  I    Dollars. 
1,569,405135,190,384 


1,803,851 
1,161,319 
1,591,701 
1,014,621 


27,273,601 
17,691,371 
22,042,172 
17,707,900 


1,146,80012,938,510 


EXPLANATION. 

A — Amount  of  imports  subject  to  ad  valorem  duties. 

B — Amount  of  ad  valorem  duties. 

C — Duties  received  on  wines,  spirits,  molasses,  sugar,  salt, 
teas,  and  cofTee. 

D — Amount  received  on  other  articles,  subject  to  specific  du- 
ties, partly  manufactures — partly  spices,  cocoa,  fruits,  in- 
digo, hemp,  and  fish. 

E — The  total  amount  of  duties  received. 

This  is  an  instructive  exhibit — and  holds  out  some 
strong  k'ssons  to  statesmen.  It  is  a  complete  reversal 
of  Pharaoh's  dream,  in  which  the  "  ill  favoured  kine" 
ate  up  the  fat  ones.  Here  the  fat  years  of  importa- 
tion and  revenue  have  eaten  up,  or  at  least  immensely 
impoverished  their  successors. 

The  tariff  was  intended  almost  altogether  for  the 
protection  of  manufactures.  When  its  provisions 
were  directed  towards  wine,  teas,  coffee,  spices,  &c.  it 
was  merely  to  supply  any  deficiency  of  revenue  which 
might  possibly  arise  in  consequence  of  the  operation 
of  its  other  provisions. 

It  follows,  that  in  a  discussion  which  regards 
commerce,  we  must  confine  ourselves  to  its  operation 
on  ihe  importation  of  manufactured  articles. 

To  ascertain  the  amount  of  manufactured  articles 
imported  into  this  country  in  former  years,  is  attended 
Widi  con  iderable  difficulty.  The  treasury  returns 
on  this  point,  have  been,  from  the  commencement  of 


85 

Gur  government  till  the  present  session  of  congress,  ex- 
tremely defective.  'J'heir  looseness  and  vagueness  ren- 
dered it  impossible  for  congress  to  legislate  understand- 
ingly  on  our  commerce  with  foreign  nations.  They 
Were  whollv  silent  as  to  the  kinds  and  qualities  of  the 
articles  imported  subject  to  ad  valorem  duties.  There 
are  many  articles  subject  to  those  duties,  which  are 
not  manufactures — and  there  are  several  manufactures 
subject  to  specific  duties.  All  these  circumstances 
greuily  embarrass  the  present  investigation. 

On  a  careful  review  of  the  subject,  I  am  convinced, 
and  will  therefore  assume,  that  the  amount  of  articles 
not  manufactured,  subject  to  ad  valorem  duties,  is 
equal  to  that  of  manufactured  articles  subject  to  spe- 
cific duties.*  This  greatly  simplifies  the  subject, 
and  cannot  be  materially  wrong. 

It  appears  from  the  preceding  table,  page  72,  that 
the  amount  of  goods  subject  to  ad  valorem  duties, 
imported  in  the  year  1820,  was  22,128,487  Dollars ; 
the  duties  on  which  were  4,420,959  Dollars.  The 
additions  proposed  by  the  new  tariff,  averaged,  as 
already  staled,  about  ten  per  cent,  and  those  pro- 
posed to  countervail  the  bounties  and  drawbacks 
afforded  on  their  exports  by  foreign  nations,  would 
make  probably  about  2|  per  cent,  the  aggregate  of 
which  would  be  about  82,700,000.  Can  it  for  a  moment 
be  supposed  that  this  would  '''' prohibit  importations''' — 
oblige  us  "^0  retire  from  the  ocean?  -voluntarily 
abandon  all  intercourse  with  other  nations'''*— -ox  imply- 
that  we  "  expected  to  sell  every  things  and  to  buy  no- 
thing .^"  render  it  necessary  to  fiee  to  Terra  del Fuego 
---or  very  materially  interfere  with  commerce?  Such 
hobgoblins,  frequently  used  to  bias  public  opinion,  and 
lead  it  astray  on  great  national  questions,  would  be  a 
subject  of  merriment,  were  it  not  for  the  deleterious 
consequences  of  which  they  sow  the  prolific  seed. 

*  The  specific  duties  in  1820,  on  cocoa,  almonds,  raisins, 
tallow,  spices,  indigo,  hemp,  and  coals,  were  above  330,000 
Dollars. 


86 

Will  it  be  pretended  that  the  importation  of  silk 
or  chintz  which  costs  a  dollar  per  yard  in  Europe, 
or  of  broadcloth  which  costs  four  dollars,  would  be 
prevented  by  an  additional  duty  of  ten,  twenty,  or 
forty  cents  per  yard  ?  The  high  rate  of  exchange  for 
some  months  has  operated  to  produce  as  great  an  ad- 
vance on  imported  goods  as  the  new  tariff  would  have 
done- --and  there  cannot  be  found  a  man  of  character 
in  the  country  who  will  venture  to  assert  that  it  can 
or  will  destroy  commerce,  or  very  materially  check 
importation. 

Of  the  manufactured  articles  which  we  import, 
there  are  many  which  cannot  for  a  long  time  to  come 
be  produced  here-.-and  others  that  are  not  produced 
in  sufficient  quantities.  With  these  the  tariff  would 
not  interfere. 

It  is,  moreover,  highly  probable,  that  the  amount  of 
teas,  coffee,  spices,  wines,  &c.  imported,  forms  nearly 
two  fifths  of  all  the  importations  of  the  country. 
The  importation  of  these  articles  would  likewise  re- 
main unaffected  by  the  tariff.  What  then  becomes 
of  those  doleful  lamentations,  those  Jeremiads  on  the 
approaching  "  destruction  of  commerce"---and  "  pro- 
hibitions of  importation  ?"  They  vanish  *'  like  the 
baseless  fabric  of  a  vision,"  into  "  thin  air." 

There  is  one  more  source  of  consolation  for  the 
merchants— and  of  indemnification  for  commerce,  in 
the  protection  of  manufactures.  The  importation  of 
the  raw  materials  they  require  must  employ  a  consi- 
derable amount  of  tonnage,  and  afford  very  handsome 
profits.  Of  wool,  alone,  there  were  imported  into 
this  city  during  the  year  1821,  221,434  lbs.--into 
Boston  probably  250,000  lbs.— and  half  the  latter 
amount  elsewhere- -and  of  hemp  into  the  United  States 
during  the  year  1820,  93,707  cwt.  and  in  1821,  86,192, 
all  intended  for  and  used  in  manufactures. 

That  Mr.  Baldwin's  tariff  would  destroy  the  re- 
venue, and  entail  on  the  nation  a  necessity  for  direct 
taxes,   and  an  excise,  with    its  usual  concomitant, 


87 

an  army  of  excise  officers,  was  among  the  strongest 
objections  to  it,  and  was  asserted  with  as  much  confi- 
dence, and  received  with  as  implicit  faith,  as  any 
demonstration  in  Euclid.  Among  the  warmest  oppo- 
sers  of  the  new  system,  were  those  who  most  firmly 
held  this  doctrine— and  it  is  far  from  improbable  that 
its  defeat  was  greatly  owing  to  an  apprehension  of 
these  consequences. 

It  was  replied,  and  reiterated — but  in  vain — for  it  is 
in  vain  to  reason  with  clamour  and  prejudice — that 
whatever  diminution  of  revenue  might  arise  from  any 
supposable  decrease  of  importation,  would  be  abun- 
dantly compensated  by  the  enhanced  duty  on  the  mer- 
chandize which  would  be  imported. 

This  objection  is  now  open  to  investigation. 
In  the  event  of  the  enaction  of  Mr.  Baldwin's  tariff, 
the  importation  of  merchandize  affected  by  it  would 
either  remain  stationary  or  diminish.     An  increase  is 
not  within  probability. 

It  remains  to  ascertain  the  operation  in  either  case. 
Suppose,  then,  the  amount  of  goods  heretofore  im- 
ported at  25  per  cent,  to  have  been  20,000,000  of  dol- 
lars— the  duties  to  be  raised  to  33  1-3 — and  in  conse- 
quence the  importation  to  be  diminished  to  15,000,000. 
20,000,000  of  dollars  at  25  per  cent,  yielded  a  re- 
venue of  85,000,000. 

15,000,000  of  dollars  at  33  1-3,  would  yield  the 
same  sum  precisely,  85,000,000. 

Suppose  the  diminution  to  be  only  2,500,000  dol- 
lars— Then  17,500,000  dollars  at  33  1-3  per  cent, 
would  yield  5,833,333  of  dollars — or  finally,  suppose, 
which,  by  the  way,  is  not  probable,  that  the  importa- 
tions remain  the  same  as  formerly — then  820,000,000 
at  33  1-3,  would  yield  86,666,666. 

Thus,  in  the  event  of  so  great  a  reduction  of  these 
importations  as  one  fourth,  which  is  not  to  be  suppo- 
sed for  a  moment,  the  revenue  would  sufltr  no  dimi- 
nution— and  in  either  of  the  other  cases  it  would  gain 
considerablv. 


88 

These  calculations  notwithstanding,  the  alarm  spread 
abroad,  and  was  irresistible — pamphlets,  memorials, 
petitions,  newspaper  essays  and  paragraphs  gave  it 
universal  currency.  And  thousands,  perhaps  hun- 
dreds of  thousands  of  persons  throughout  the  United 
States,  who  never  saw  an  item  of  the  thrift',  arrayed 
themselves  in  hostility  against  itj  from  a  dread  of  the 
total  destruction  of  the-  revenue. 

But  a  new  advocate  has  stepped  forward  in  defence 
of  the  system  as  far  as  the  revenue  is  concerned — and 
placed  the  subject  in  such  a  point  of  light  as  to  over- 
throw all  the  objections  of  this  character.  The  stxre- 
tary  of  the  treasury  advises  ihe  adoption  of  some  of 
the  chief  items  of  Mr.  Baldwin's  tariff,  not  with  a  view 
to  the  protection  of  manufactures,  except  incidentally 
— nor  certainly  to  impair  the  revenue,  the  protection 
and  improve  ment  of  which  form  the  leading  duties  of 
his  office — but  with  a  vieiu  of  supplying  the  great  de- 
Jiciencies  that  have  arisen  in  our  finances  ! 

He  states  that  in  a  certain  event,  the  public  expen- 
diture authorized  by  law,  may  exceed  the  public  re- 
venue. Of  the  remedies  he  proposes  in  this  case,  the 
first  is — "  An  increase  of  the  public  revenue  by  an 
"  addition  to  the  existing  impositions"---his  view  is 
thus  developed : 

^'  A  general  revision  and  correction  of  the  duties  impo- 
*'  sed  on  foreign  merchandize,  seem  to  be  required.  Many 
*'  of  the  articles  which  pa\-  but  fifteen  per  cent,  ad  valorem, 
"  ought^  in  justice  as  well  as  policy,  to  be  placed  at  twenty- 
''^  five  per  cent,  which  is  the  duty  pdid  upon  the  principal 
*'  articles  ot  woollen  and  cotton  manutactares.  The  same 
*'  observation  applies  to  some  of  the  articles  which  pay  but 
*'  twenty  per  cent,  ad  valorem.  A  correction  of  the  exist- 
*'  ing  duties,  ivith  a  vi:w  to  the  increase  of  the  public  revenue^ 
"  could  hardly  fail  to  (iccomplish  that  object  to  the  amount  of 
"  one  million  of  dollars  annually.  It  is  hignly  probable,  how- 
'*  ever,  that  an  increase  of  duty  on  some  of  those  articles 
"  might  eventually  cause  a  reduction  of  the  revenue.  But 
"this  can  only  take  place  when  sunilar  articles  are  manu 
*'  factured  in  the  country.     Va  that  event,  domestic  manu- 


ad 

**  factures  will  have  been  fostered ;  and  the  general  ability 
"  of  the  community  to  contribute  to  the  public  exigencies^ 
*'  will  have  been  proportionably  increased,^"* 

To  the  last  sentence  of  this  extract  most  particular 
attention  is  due.  It  contains  in  few  words  the  essence 
of  all  the  arguments  in  favour  of  protecting  duties. 
They  "  increase  the  general  ability  of  the  community 
"  to  contribute  to  the  public  exigencies.'^''  Can  any  oth- 
er argument  be  necessary  for  men  fit  or  worthy  to 
have  committed  to  their  care  the  destiny  of  a  great  and 
mighty  nation  ?  What  an  immense  weight  of  respon- 
sibility are  they  under,  on  whom  this  important  duty 
is  devolved — and  what  a  high  degree  of  criminality  is 
involved  in  its  neglect,  should  it  not  be  performed ! 

The  last  of  the  objections  to  the  new  tariff  which  I 
shall  notice,  is  predicated  on  its  being  in  hostility  to 
the  spirit  of  liberality  which  is  spreading  among  the 
nations  of  Europe,  who  have  become  humble  copyists 
of  the  policy  of  the  United  States,  struck  with  admi- 
ration of  its  beneficial  effects  ! 

"  Is  it  not  a  little  remarkable  that  these  attempts  are  not 
**  only  repugnant  to  those  maxims  of  free  trade  which  the 
*'  United  States  have  hitherto  so  forcibly  and  perseveringly 
*'  contended  for,  as  the  sure  foundation  of  national  pros- 
*'  perity ;  but  they  are  pressed  upon  us  at  a  moment  when 
"  the  statesmen  of  the  old  world,  in  admiration  of  the  suc- 
"  cess  of  our  policy.,  are  relaxing  the  rigour  of  their  own 
"  systems.,  and  yielding  themselves  to  the  ration  il  doctrine, 
"  that  national  wealth  is  best  promoted  by  a  free  interchange 
*'  of  commodities.,  upon  principles  of  perfect  reciprocity.'** 

Such,  courteous  reader,  is  the  language  of  the  ce- 
lebrated Salem  memorial,  admirably  calculated  to 
tickle  the  national  vanity. 

It  is  truly  astonishing  that  gentlemen  of  pre-emi- 
nent talents  and  high  standing  in  society,  so  frequent- 
ly commit  themselves  by  the  assumption  of  facts 
which  will  not  stand  the  test  of  examination.     The 

12 


90 

assertions  above  stated  are  wholly  unfounded.  There 
is  no  evidence  that  the  nations  of  Kurope  have  co- 
pied our  policy,  or  manifested  any  disposition  to 
do  so.  They  know  little  about  it.  The  policy  of 
England,  France,  Spain  and  Portugal  is  well  known. 
Their  custom  house  codes  abound  with  restrictions, 
prohibitions,  and  prohibitory  duties.  No  change  has 
taken  place  in  the  system  of  Great  Britain.  Of  that  of 
France,  I  have  given  a  slight  sketch.  Those  of 
Spain  and  Portugal  are  of  very  recent  date,  and  still 
more  rigorous.  Throughout  the  rest  of  the  conti- 
nent no  material  alteration  has  taken  place,  except  in 
Russia  and  Holland. 

Of  the  latter  kingdom,  I  trust  enough  has  been 
stated  in  Chapter  111.  to  satisfy  the  world,  that  if  she 
has  followed  our  example,  it  has  been  like  Pandora's 
Box  to  her---and  has,  by  devoting  one  ninth  part  of 
her  population  to  mendicity,  entailed  on  her  distress 
and  wretchedness,  which  will  hold  her  out  as  a  beacon 
to  other  nations,  to  beware  how  they  follow  the  ignis 
fatuiis  of  buying  cheap  goods  abroad. 

On  the  subject  of  Russia,  I  am  not  possessed  of  as 
copious  details  as  the  argument  would  require  ;  but 
there  is  enough  known  to  enable  us  to  discover  that 
her  case  bears  no  small  analogy  to  that  of  Holland. 

The  tariff  of  Russia,  enacted  in  1816,  contained  an 
uncommonly  numerous  list  of  prohibited  articles* — 
and  the  duties  on  importations  were  very  considerable. 
About  the  close  of  the  year  1819,  a  fatal  alteration 
was  made,  whereby  many  of  the  duties  were  reduced, 
and  the  list  of  prohibitions  greatly  diminij^hed.  The 
ports  were  immediately  inundated  with  foreign  goods 
beyond  the  viilue  of  the  exports— the  national  indus- 
try was  paralised---thc  specie  was  drawn  away  to 
pay  the  enormous  balance-'-and  a  very  considerable 
degree  of  impoverishment  succeeded. 

*  Sec  the  Addresses  of  the  Philadelphia  Society  for  promot- 
ing National  Industry,  No,  III. 


91 

'I'he    importations  into  Rubles.  Dollars. 

Petersburgh  in  1820, 

amounted  to  190,388,897  equal  to  S35,255,735 

The    exports    for    the 

same  period,  105,095,280  19,462,090 


Balance,     85,293,617  ^15,793,645 

The  balance  of  trade  (I  beg  Mr.  Cambreleng's  par- 
don for  the  introduction  of  these  obnoxious  words) 
previous  to  this  alteration,  was  greatly  in  favour  of 
Russia.  It  lias  since  inclined  as  much  the  other  way. 
I  have  laboured,  but  in  vain,  to  procure  from  the 
Russian  agents  in  this  country  more  full  details  than 
the  above.  But  these  few  facts,  I  hope,  are  sufficient 
to  establish  the  important  position,  that  the  actual  po- 
licy of  Russia,  like  that  of  Holland,  whether  borrowed 
from  us,  or  of  their  own  invention,  holds  oiit  little  to 
copy,  but  much  to  avoid. 


a 


CHAPTER  X. 

Identity  of  interests  between  the  different  portions  of 
the  union.  Pernicious  operation  of  the  existing  po- 
licy^ on  the  grain- growing  states.  Their  interests 
sacrificed  to  the  supposed  interests  of  the  cotton  and 
tobacco  planting  states.  Protection  of  commerce. 
Relative  proportion  oj  the  agricidturaU  manufactur- 
ing and  commercial  portions  of  our  citizens. 

Among  the  strong  inducements  to  a  ratification  of 
the  federal  constitution,  was  the  idea  of  an  identity  of 
interests  between  the  different  sections  of  the  country, 
and  the  different  classes,  agricultural,  manufacturing 
and  commercial.  This  identity  is  delightful  to  con- 
template, and  actually  exists.  But  that  it  is  impair- 
ed, if  not  in  some  respects  done  away,  by  a  mistaken 


92 

policy,  in  the  practical  operations  of  our  government, 
is  bt-yoiid  a  doubt.  It  is  a  melancholy  truth,  that  the 
solid,  substantial  interests  of  the  grain- growing,  are 
sacrificed  to  remote  and  contingent  interests  of  the 
cotton  and  tobacco-planting  states. 

This  very  strong  declaration  requires  to  be  sup- 
ported by  clear  proofs.  If  unfounded,  it  is  deserving 
of  unqualified  censure.  But  if  otherwise,  it  behoves 
the  constituted  authorities  to  ponder  well  on  the  sub- 
ject, and  "correct  the  procedure." 

That  the  different  component  parts  of  a  federative 
association  ought  to  make  common  cause— and  each 
to  aid  in  repelling  injuries  received  by  the  others, 
cannot  admit  of  a  doubt.  This  is  one  of  the  princi- 
pal objects  for  which  confederations  are  organized. 

Let  us  see  how  far  this  duty  is  performed. 

There  are  three  great  interests  in  the  United  States, 
as  in  most  other  countries — the  agricultural  to  pro- 
duce—'the  manufacturing  to  mould  and  fashion---and 
the  commercial  to  transport  the  surplus  productions 
of  both. 

The  agricultural  interest  in  this  country,  may  be 
subdivided  into  the  raisers  of  grain— of  cotton---of 
tobacco — and  of  sugar. 

The  grand  staple  of  the  middle  states,  New  York, 
Pennsylvania,  New  Jersey,  and  Delaware,  which,  with 
such  portions  of  the  western  states  as  are  engaged  in 
the  same  culture,  comprize  two  fifths  of  the  whole 
population  of  the  union,  is  prohibited  in  Great  Britain, 
France,  Spain,  and  Portugal.  And  every  principle  of 
justice  and  propriety,  calls  aloud  for  some  retaliatory 
measures  on  the  part  of  the  union,  in  order  to  relieve 
those  states  from  the  masses  of  distress  and  wretch- 
edness resulting  from  the  reduction  of  prices,  the  ne- 
cessary consequence  of  the  glutted  markets  produ- 
ced by  that  prohibition.  But  as  it  were  to  make  a 
moi  kery  of  the  boasted  identity,  and  to  evince  to 
the  world  a  direct  hostility,  of  interest,  there  has 
not  been  a  single  step  taken  to  secure  redress---not  by 


93 

prohibition,  which  is  unnecessary,  but  even  by  en- 
hancement of  duties.  And  it  is  candidly  avowed,  that 
this  measure,  of  such  imperious  duty,  is  not  adopted, 
lest  prohibitions  may  take  place  of  the  southern  sta- 
ples. This,  in  plain  English,  means,  that  lest  cotton, 
rice,  and  tobacco,  should  at  some  future  day  be  prohi- 
bited or  restricted  in  Europe,  the  absolute  prohibition 
of  the  staple  of  the  middle  states  is  to  pass  unnoticed 
and  unredressed. 

Thus  the  most  severe  evil  that  can  be  inflicted  on 
one  great  portion  of  the  nation  is  to  be  wholly  disre- 
garded, lest  a  similar  evil,  of  which  there  is  little  dan- 
ger, should  be  inflicted  on  another.  This  is  precisely 
the  same  case  as  if  two  men  enter  into  a  solemn  league 
and  covenant  for  mutual  defence,  on  terms  of  perfect 
reciprocity,  and  one  allows  the  other  to  be  plundered, 
lest  by  some  remote  contingency  he  may  be  plundered 
himself.  Whereas  by  making  common  cause,  they 
would  both  triumph  ovtr  the  menaced  danger. 

This  unfriendly  and  antifederal  doctrine  is  clearly 
and  explicitly  laid  down  in  the  memorial  agreed  upon 
by  the  citizens  of  Charleston,  S.  C.  against  the  propo- 
sed increase  of  the  tariff,  so  lately  as  Sept.  12,  1820. 

"  If  we  should  prohibit  in  this  country  the  introduction 
*'  of  the  manufactures  of  Great  Britain,  or  impose  on  them 
*'  duties  amounting'  to  a  prohibition^  have  we  no  reason  to 
"  apprehend  that  she  may  on  her  part  prohibit  totally  the  in- 
*'  troduction  into  her  ports  of  our  cotton,  our  rice,  and  our 
*'  tobacco,  and  turn  to  other  quarters  for  the  supply  she 
'*  may  require  ?" 

On  this  paragraph,  there  is  one  observation  loudly 
called  for.  It  is  the\xiremely  disingenuous  assump- 
tion of  a  prohibition  or  an  imposition  of  duties  amount- 
ing to  prohibition  of  British  manufactures,  in  order  to 
defeat  the  application  for  a  very  moderate  increase  of 
duties.  It  is  truly  lamentable  to  see  such  means  em- 
ployed in  any  cause— -and  it  is  not  an  unfair  assump- 
tion that  the  cause  must  be  bad,  or  the  advocate  me- 
cliocre,  when  they  are  pressed  into  the  service.     The 


M 

principal  articles  imported  from  Great  Britain  are 
woollens,  cottons,  and  linens.  The  two  firsi  were  pro- 
posed to  be  rated  at  33  1-3  per  cent. ---and  the  last  at 
25.  Yet  these  duties  are  assumed  as  prohibitions  or 
amounting  to  prohibitions ! 

Let  us  suppose  for  a  moment,  that  any  foreign  na- 
tion had  absolutely  prohibited  the  importation  of  cot- 
ton, rice  and  tobacco — would  not  the  states  which 
mainly  depend  on  the  sale  of  those  staples  for  the 
great  mass  of  the  luxuries,  and  comforts,  and  even  of 
the  necessaries  of  life,  vociferously  demand  ^ome  reta- 
liatory measures?  Would  tliey  not  be  justified  in  it? 
And  if  they  were  refused,  would  not  one  of  the  most 
important  ends  of  the  social  compact  be  defeated? 
Would  they  not  deem  it  illiberal,  partial,  and  unjust, 
to  be  obliged  to  receive,  which  is  equivalent  to  being 
prevented  from  restricting,  the  merchandize  of  such 
nations,  as  would  not  accept  in  return  those  articles 
in  which  alone  they  could  make  payment?  And  sup- 
pose the  representatives  of  the  grain-growing  states 
were  obstinately  to  refuse  to  comply  with  these  re- 
quests, or  even  to  read  them,  because  their  own  sta- 
ple was  freely  received,  would  not  the  welkin  ring  with 
their  complaints  ?  Should  we  not  have  a  repetition  of 
those  threats  of  separation  which  were  vociferated  so 
loudly  during  the  discussion  of  the  Missouri  ques- 
tion ? 

This  is  the  argumentum  ad  hominem.  Let  it  be 
duly  weighed. 

Now,  I  ask,  in  the  name  of  common  sense  and  com- 
mon justice,  how  can  these  gentlemen  reconcile  to 
themselves,  to  refuse  that  protection  to  the  states  of 
New  York,  New  Jersey,  Pennsylvania,  Delaware,  &:c. 
the  refusal  of  which  to  themselves  they  would  regard 
as  so  unjust  and  so  improper?  These  states  are  obli- 
ged to  receive  fine  cotton  and  all  kinds  of  woollen 
goods  at  25,  linens  and  silks  at  15,  and  girandoles, 
chandeliers,  china,  earthen  ware,  and  pottery,  at  20 
per  cent,  from  Great  Britain  and  France ;  yet  bread- 


95 

stuffs,  almost  the  only  articles  in  which  they  can  make 
payment,  are  prohibited  in  the  most  unqualified  way. 
Not  one  pound  will  be  received  to  feed  the  work- 
men, whose  manufactures  we  consume — whereas, 
were  manufactures  properly  encouraged  here,  those 
bread-stuffs,  thus  excluded,  would  be  consumed  at 
home,  by  manufacturers,  who  would,  moreover,  fur- 
nish an  invaluable  market  for  our  raw  materials. 

Again.  Let  us  consider  the  case  of  the  merchants, 
who  are  not  a  thirtieth  part  of  the  population  of  the 
United  States.  For  the  least  aggression  made  on  their 
rights,  real  or  fancied,  they  immediately  appeal  for 
redress  to  congress — and  every  consequence  is  dared 
to  effect  their  object.  No  counter  petition  has  ever 
been  presented  to  prevent  a  compliance — nor  have 
they  ever  experienced  the  least  difficulty  in  the  accom- 
plishment of  their  wishes. 

We  support  a  navy  in  the  Mediterranean,  at  an 
enormous  expense,  to  protect  our  commerce  in  that 
quarter ;  although  it  is  very  confidently  asserted  that 
the  value  of  that  trade  is  not  equal  to  one  half  the  ex- 
pense. But  be  that  as  it  may,  there  has  been  no  invi- 
dious effort  on  the  part  of  the  manufacturers,  or  any 
other  of  our  citizens,  to  prevent  a  continuance  of  this 
expensive  system. 

At  the  instance  of  the  merchants,  an  abortive  at- 
tempt has  been  made  to  coerce  the  British  nation  into 
an  abandonment  of  their  navigation  act,  to  which  they 
are  almost  as  much  attached,  as  we  to  our  constitution. 
In  the  effort  to  secure  the  carriage  of  our  produce  to  the 
West  Indies,  we  have  actually  and  perniciously  sacri- 
ficed the  sale  of  the  produce  itself.  It  is  not  exactly, 
but  nearly,  similar  to  the  case  of  a  merchant  refusing  to 
supply  his  customers  with  goods,  unless  they  use  his 
wngons  in  the  conveyance  of  them,  although  they  have 
way^ons  of  their  own. 

We  are,  moreover,  now  about  to  incur  an  enor- 
mous expense,  and  the  imminent  risk  of  a  collision 
with  the  colossal  power  of  Russia,  in  order  to  estab- 


m 

lish  a  commerce  at  the  mouth  of  the  Columbia  river 
— a  commerce,  the  amount  of  which  for  years  will  not 
probably  equal  the  value  of  the  manufactures  produc- 
ed at  Waltham.  Yet  there  are  no  counter  petitions, 
nor  memorials,  nor  remonstrances— no  opposition  of 
any  kind  whatever. 

The  statute  book  is  full  of  acts  made  for  the  protec- 
tion of  the  merchants,  framed  at  their  instance,  with 
scarcely  a  word  of  opposition  from  the  rest  of  the 
union.  And  yet,  whenever  an  attempt  is  made  to  af- 
ford any  effectual  relief  to  their  manufacturing  fellow- 
citizens,  they  excite  a  loud  clamour — call  meetings — 
circulate  counter  petitions — and  leave  nothing  unat- 
tempted  to  prevent  success. 

That  the  whole  of  these  proceedings  militate  against 
the  identity  of  interest  of  the  different  classes  of  our 
citizens,  and  prove  that  it  is  not  properly  under- 
stood, and  that  a  decided  and  powerful  hostility  ex- 
ists, will  admit  of  no  doubt.  They  do  not  display  a 
spark  of  that  fraternal  spirit  which  should  exist  among 
members  of  the  same  confederacy. 

In  order  to  be  able  duly  to  appreciate  the  impro- 
priety of  the  treatment  of  the  manufacturers,  and  of 
the  utter  neglect  of  their  various  memorials,  it  may 
be  proper  to  cast  a  glance  on  the  relative  numbers  of 
the  persons  devoted  to  agriculture,  manufactures  and 
commerce  in  the  eleven  states,  from  Maine  to  Mary- 
land inclusive,  wherein  manufactures  are  established 
on  a  respectable  scale. 


97 


Agricult. 

Commerce. 

Manufac 

Total. 

Gr.  total. 

♦Maine 

55.031 

4,297 

7,643 

66,971 

298,335 

New  Hampshire 

52,384 

1,068 

8,699 

62,151 

244,161 

Massachusetts 

63,460 

13,301 

33,464 

110,225 

523,287 

Connecticut  ^ 

50,518 

3,581 

17,541 

71,640 

275,248 

Vermont 

50,951 

776 

8,484 

60,211 

235,764 

Rhode  Island 

12,5.59 

1,162 

6,091 

18,812 

83,059 

New  York 

247,648 

9,113 

60,038 

306,799 

1,372,812 

New  Jersey 

40,812 

1,830 

15,941 

58,583 

277,575 

Pennsylvania 

140,801 

7,083 

60,215 

208,099 

1,049,398 

Delaware 

13,259        538 

2,821 

16,613 

72,749 

Maryland 

79,135     4,771 

18,640 

102,546 

407,350 

806,558    47,515 

239,577 

1,082,650 

4,839,738 

Total  population  of  these  eleven  states. 
Deduct  people  of  colour. 


4,839,738 
271,514 


White  population,     4,468,224 
Proportions  per  cent. 


Agriculturists, 

Citizens  devoted  to  commerce. 

Citizens  devoted  to  manufactures 


74 
4 

22 

100 


Thus  in  nine  of  the  original  thirteen  states,  eleven 
of  the  existing  confederacy,  embracing  much  more 
than  half  the  white,  and  very  nearly  half  of  the  entire 
population  of  the  union,  it  appears  that  the  manufac- 
turers are  five  times  as  numerous  as  the  citizens  en- 
gaged in  commerce,  foreign  and  domestic,  and  nearly 
one  third  as  numerous  as  the  citizens  devoted  to  agri- 
culture. They  form  above  a  sixth  part  of  the  white, 
and  a  seventh  part  of  the  entire  population  of  the 
nation. 

In  the  great  commercial  state  of  Massachusetts,  the 
manufacturers  are  nearly  one-third  of  the  whole  popu- 
lation—almost three  times  as  numerous  as  the  citi- 

*  This  table  requires  some  little  explanation.  The  three  first 
columns  and  the  fifth  are  extracted  from  the  census  without  va- 
riation. The  fourth  column  contains  the  aggregate  of  the  first 
three.  The  fifth  contains  the  grand  total  of  the  population  of 
those  eleven  states. 

13 


98 

zens  devoted  to  commerce- -and  more  than  half  of 
the  number  of  those  devoted  to  agricuhure.  In  Penn- 
sylvania they  are  above  eight,  in  New- York  nearly 
seven,  and  in  Rhode-Island  and  Connecticut,  above 
five  times  as  numerous  as  the  mercantile  class. 

Yet  this  important  part  of  our  citizens,  entitled  from 
their  numbers,  their  usefulness,  and  the  uniformity 
of  their  zeal  in  the  support  of  the  government,  to  eve- 
ry degree  of  attention  and  respect"-and  to  a  fair  share 
of  the  representation — are  almost  wholly  unrepre- 
sented, and  their  applications  frequently  treated  with 
the  most  contumelious  neglect,  congress  never  conde- 
scending to  read  them,  and  often  not  reporting  on  them. 

During  the  session  of  1816,  in  which  the  tarift' was 
enacted,  when  the  manufacturers  were  supplicating  to 
be  rescued  from  the  destruction  which  impended  over 
them,  and  which  finally  swallowed  so  many  of  them 
up,  a  certain  member,  whose  lordly  views,  and  con- 
tempt of  the  "  ignobile  vulgus,"  would  have  secured 
him  an  undisputed  admission  into  the  Venetian  senate, 
fastidiously  exclaimed,  that  "  he  had  been  so  bored 
with  manufactures  and  manufacturers,"  that  he  should 
never  bear  to  hear  either  word  pronounced  again ! 
What  chance  of  humanity  or  justice  the  poor  Helots 
have  from  representatives  of  such  a  character,  it  is  easy 
to  ascertain. 

There  is  one  very  simple  mode  in  which  a  remedy 
may  be  applied  to  the  revolting,  withering,  and  often 
most  cruel  neglect  so  uniformly  experienced  by  the 
manufacturers,  particularly  during  those  awful  suffer- 
ings in  1816,  17,  18,  19,  and  20,  which  would  have 
excited  the  pity,  and  commanded  the  effectual  inter- 
ference of  the  most  despotic  governments  of  Eu- 
rope.*    The  manufacturers,  as  appears  from  the  prc- 

*The  world  has  never  witnessed  a  more  shocking  or  unfeel- 
ing disregard  of  public  distress,  or  more  contemptuous  neglect 
of  the  voice  of  constituents,  than  was  displayed  in  1816 — 17,  by 
the  fourteenth  Congress,  who  not  only  did  not  deign  to  hear  their 
memorials,  but  never  reported  on  the   major   part  of  them. 


99 

cedin.j^  table,  are  sufficiently  numerous  in  the  middle 
and  eastern  states,  in  many  of  the  districts,  particularly 
in  the  populous  towns,  to  carry  the  elections  as  they 
please,  and  in  all  to  controul  them,  in  cases  of  con- 
tested elections,  provided  they  act  in  unison.  Let 
them  henceforward,  therefore,  never  on  any  account 
vote  for  any  man,  whatever  his  pretensions  may  be, 
who  is  unfriendly,  or  not  decidedly  favourable  to  ma- 
nufactures.* No  merchant  would  vote  for  a  person 
unfriendly  to  commerce — nor  farmer  for  one  unfriendly 
to  agriculture.  Yet  numbers  of  the  persons  most  hos- 
tile to  the  protection  of  manufacturers,  have,  at  all  times 
since  the  establishment  of  the  government,  owed  their 
seats  to  the  voters  of  this  class.  Let  this  in  future  be 
the  cardinal  point — the  shibboleth.    They  will  then 

*  I  have  hesitated  much  whether  I  should  venture  to  add  a 
note  to  this  paragraph  or  not.  And  I  now  do  it  ahnost  with  fear 
and  trembling.  It  may  be  supposed,  and,  in  order  to  discredit 
what  I  here  advise,  it  will  probably  be  asserted,  that  I  am  in- 
duced to  recommend  this  measure  with  a  view  to  popularity 
and  personal  aggrandizement.  Men's  motives  ought  not,  al- 
though they  frequently  do,  affect  the  influence  of  their  writings  : 
and  therefore,  even  had  I  this  object  in  view,  it  would  neither  add 
to,  nor  diminish,  the  force  of  wliat  I  have  written.  However,  to 
remove  all  doubt  on  this  subject,  I  distinctly  state,  that  I  never 
shall,  on  any  account  v/hatever,  allow  myself  to  be  put  up  as  a 
candidate,  nor  shall  I  ever  accept  any  public  office. f  The  little 
that  remains  of  life,  shall  be  devoted  to  literary  pursuits.  I  can 
employ  my  time  more  to  the  advantage  of  the  public,  but  at  all 
events  more  to  my  own  personal  satisfaction,  than  in  any  public 
station  whatever.  I  have  three  or  four  times  refused  to  allow 
myself  to  be  nominated  for  the  state  legislature  or  congress, 
when  the  ascendency  of  the  party  to  which  I  belong  would  have 
insured  me  success,  had  my  ambition  led  me  to  court  the  ele- 
vation. I  fondly  hope  that  the  motive  which  has  induced,  will 
excuse,  this  trespass  on  the  public  attention,  for  which  I  tender 
a  respectful  apology.  Let  me  be  permitted  to  add,  that  I  never 
was  interested  in  any  modification  of  the  tariff,  except  as  it 
aff"ected  the  general  welfare  of  the  country,  wherein  of  course 
my  prosperity  was  involved.  The  duty  on  books,  although, 
only  15  per  cent,  has  been  sufficient  protection. 

t  I  except  the  office  of  director  of  the  Bank  of  Pennsylvania,  tlie  dutie?  of  which,  so  long 
as  the  senate  of  the  state  honour  me  with  their  confidence,  I  shall  continue  to  discharge. 


100 

have  some  influence  in  the  body  whom  they  contri- 
bute to  elect  and  pay. 

1  shall  conclude  this  chapter  with  one  observation, 
which  will  appear  strans^e  to  the  reader,  and  incom- 
patible, although  perfectly  in  unison,  with  what  I 
have  already  written  on  these  subjects.  It  is  fortu- 
nate not  only  for  the  manufacturers — but  for  the 
nation — that  Mr.  Baldwin's  tariff  was  rejected  in 
1819 :  for  had  it  been  adopted,  the  reduction  of 
the  importations  of  1820  and  1821 — and  the  conse- 
quent diminution  of  the  revenue,  would  have  been 
most  indubitably  ascribed  to  it.  The  old  hue  and 
cry  would  have  been  raised,  and  re-echoed  from  state 
to  state,  and  advantage  would  be  taken  of  the  ex- 
citement thereby  created,  to  reduce  the  duties  proba- 
bly even  below  the  standard  of  1816.  Indeed  one 
printer  to  the  southward,  who  dictates  on  these  sub- 
jects in  a  very  lordly  style,  attempted  to  persuade  the 
nation,  that  the  reduction  of  importations  arose  from 
the  apprehension  of  Mr.  Baldwin's  tariff  being  enact- 
ed !  Some  feeble  attempts  were  made  elsewhere,  to 
give  this  preposterous  idea  general  currency.  But 
Gullible  as  mankind  generally  are,  and  much  as  it  flat- 
tered the  prejudices  of  some  of  our  citizens,  it  was 
too  gross  to  gain  credence — and  soon  sunk  into  merit- 
ed oblivion.  Still  the  abortive  attempt  to  impress  the 
public  mind  with  such  an  opinion,  under  circum- 
stances so  disadvantageous  to  it,  fully  proves  what 
would  have  been  done  in  the  event  of  the  success  of 
Mr.  Baldwin's  system.  To  the  end  of  time  it  could 
never  be  exonerated  from  all  the  odium  of  the  decay 
of  commerce — the  loss  of  revenue— ^and  the  recourse 
to  loans,  which  the  two  last  years  have  exhibited 
to  the  world,  being,  it  is  presumable,  among  the 
proofs,  according  to  Mr.  Cambreleng,  that  "  this  is  the 
"  most  Jioiirishing  country  in  the  world — and  that  its 
"  wealth  is  increasing  in  a  ratio  to  its  capital  more  ra- 
"  pidly  than  that  oj  any  other  nation  /"---Examination 
of  the  new  tariff,  page  135. 


101 

■  The  preceding  account  of  the  actual  state  of  this 
country  was  promulgattd  by  Mr.  C.  early  in  the  year 
18:^1,  when  he  had  before  his  eyes  the  awful  scenes 
of  the  preceding  five  years — the  existing  distress  of 
nearly  the  whole  of  the  great  states  of  Ohio,  Kentuc- 
ky, and  Feniiessee — the  general  stagnation  which  had 
bur  just  begun  to  subside — and  almost  every  feature 
of  our  affairs  the  reverse  of  the  flattering  picture  thus 
portrayed ! ! ! 


SUMMARY. 

Having  brought  this  desultory  essay  to  a  close,  I 
shall  present  to  the  reader  a  summary  of  the  points 
discussed — in  order  to  aid  in  a  correct  decision  on 
such    a  vital  subject.  . 

1.  That  the  restrictive  system  has  enriched  Eng- 
land to  an  extent  beyond  any  example  in  history — 
conferred  on  her  a  degree  of  strength,  power,  and  in- 
fluence far  exceeding  that  to  which  her  extent,  her 
population,  or  her  natural  advantages  would  entitle 
her-  -and  enabled  her  to  support  burdens  which  no 
nation  ever  before  sustained. 

2.  That  to  impute  her  present  distresses  to  her  ma- 
nufacturing system  is  as  absurd  and  unjust,  as  to  as- 
cribe the  ruin  of  an  extravagant  or  improvident  farmer 
to  the  fertility  of  his  land. 

3.  That  the  restrictive  system  has  enabled  France 
to  emerge  from  the  pressure  of  the  havoc  made  of  her 
resources  by  a  devouring  war  of  twenty  years — mili- 
tary contributions  of  100,000,000  of  dollars---and  the 
spoliation  of  exasperated  armies  for  two  or  three 
years. 

4.  That  the  system  of  low  duties  has  had  a  fair  trial 
in  Holland,  and  has  produced  there  a  copious  harvest 
of  wretchedness.     It  has  drained  away  her  specie; 


102 

paralized  her  agriculture  and  manufactures ;  impaired 
her  commerce ;  lowered  the  value  of  real  estate  one- 
third  ;  impoverished  her  treasury ;  and  reduced  one- 
ninth  part  of  her  population  to  a  state  of  mendicity. 

5.  That  the  first  tariff  was  marked  with  the  same  par- 
tiality as  is  discoverable  in  the  present — bulky  raw 
materials,  the  products  of  the  earth,  being  charged 
with  duties  one  hundred  per  cent,  higher  than  the  most 
elaborated  articles  made  from  them. 

6.  That  potatoes,  and  butter,  and  rice,  are  at  pre- 
sent subject  to  the  same  duty  as  silks,  sattins,  books, 
sealing  wax,  linens,  thread  stockings,  and  all  other 
manufactures  of  flax. 

7.  That  during  the  whole  progress  of  the  ruin  in 
which  so  large  a  portion  of  the  manufactures  and 
manufacturers  of  the  country,  were  enveloped  in 
1816,  1817,  1818,  1819,  and  1820,  congress  looked 
on  with  the  most  withering  apathy  and  indifference, 

8.  That  the  manufacturers,  being  nearly  a  fourth 
part  of  the  white  population  from  Maine  to  Maryland, 
inclusive,  have  never  had  the  attention  paid  them, 
to  which  their  numbers  and  their  usefulness  entitle 
them. 

9.  That  although  the  cotton  planters  are  protected 
by  a  duty  of  from  33  to  40  per  ccnt.---the  sugar  plan- 
ters by  a  duty  of  100---and  the  tobacco  planters  by  du- 
ties almost  prohibitory,  they  have  uniformly  united 
together,  with  few  exceptions,  to  prevent  the  ma- 
nufacturers of  iron,  steel,  brass,  copper,  tin,  lead, 
and  flax,  from  a  protection  of  25  per  ccnt.--the  manu- 
facturers of  chintzes  and  woollen  goods  from  one  of 
33  1-3— the  manufacturers  of  coaches,  earthen  ware, 
pottery,  cut  glass,  leather,  millinery,  saddles,  bridles, 
&c.  from  one  of  SS-.-and  the  manufacturers  of  hats 
and  ready  made  clothing  from  one  of  40  per  cent. 

10.  That  the  operation  of  the  tariff  is  partial,  unjust, 
and  wicked,  as  it  taxes  the  poor  most  extravagantly  for 
the  necessaries  of  life,  while  the  rich  pay  light  duties 
on  comforts,  conveniencies,  and  even  luxuries—thus 


103 


bohea  tea  pays  120  per  cent muscovado  sugar  100 

---and  salt  180---while  cashmere  and  merino  shawls, 
superfine  broad  cloths,  chintzes,  &c.  pay  but  25-— 
china,  girandoles,  chandeliers  and  hardware  but  20— 
and  bombazets,  bombazeens,  silks,  satins,  gauzes, 
damasks,  muffs  and  tippets,  pay  but  15  per  cent. 

Thus  800  dollars  worth 
of  silks,  sattins,  fine  linens, 
cambrics,  muffs,  and  tip- 


pets, 
480 


dollars    worth    of 


Pay  only  the 


Cashmere  shawls,  super-  .same  duty  viz.  J  of  muscovado   su 


100  dollars  worth 
of  Bohea  tea. 


120  dollars  worth 


gar. 

66  dollars  worth 
of  salt. 


fine     broad     cloths,    and  '^120  dollars,  as 
chintzes, 

600  dollars  worth  of 
china,  fine  hardware,  and 
girandoles,  J 

a  system  of  which  no  country  in  the  world,  even  the 
most  barbarous,  in  ancient  or  modern  times,  can  pro- 
duce a  parallel. 

11.  That  the  merchants  during  the  war  having  rais- 
ed their  merchandize  in  many  cases  one  hundred  per 
cent.— the  farmers  their  flour  at  different  periods  dur- 
ing the  last  30  years  from  four  dollars  to  fourteen-— 
the  cotton  planters  their  staple  from  13  to  30  cents  per 
lb.-- -the  tobacco  planters  tobacco  in  one  year  from 
S94  to  185  per  hhd. ;  and  then  arraigning,  trying,  and 
condemning  the  manufacturers  unheard,  for  extortion, 
because  they  raised,  for  instance,  superfine  woollen 
cloths  from  eight  dollars  to  thirteen  or  fourteen  (the 
raw  material  being  increased  from  75  cents  per  lb. 
to  three  and  four  dollars)  is  really  among  the  most  ex- 
traordinary  instances  of  inconsistency  that  can  be  con- 
ceived. 

12.  That  the  clamour  on  the  danger  of  smuggling 
by  imposing  duties  of  25  per  cent,  on  manufactures 
of  iron,  steel,  lead  and  flax — of  33  per  cent,  on  chint- 
zes and  woollens---and  35  per  cent,  on  pottery,  china, 
earthen  ware,  coachss,  manufactures  of  leather,  &c. 


104 

while  so  many  articles  are  and  have  been  from  the 
commencement  of  the  government  subject  to  duties 
from  50  to  180  per  cent,  is  totally  irreconcilable  with 
reason  or  common  sense — will  not  for  a  moment  stand 
the  test  of  examination- -and  is  unworthy  of  the  legis- 
lature of  a  great  nation. 


POSTSCRIPT. 

March  6,  1822. 

SOME  years  since,  when  our  imports  greatly  ex- 
ceeded our  exports,  and  presented  a  very  unfavour- 
able balance  of  our  trade  with  the  world  at  large, 
many  of  our  statesmen  and  politicians  wholly  scouted 
the  idea  of  attending  to  the  balance  of  trade,  it  being, 
as  they  said,  so  very  fallacious,  as  not  to  warrant  any 
certain  inference  as  to  the  prosperity  of  nations. 

Their  opinions  have  recently  undergone  a  very 
considerable  change,  in  consequence  of  an  apparent 
excess  of  our  exports  over  our  imports,  in  the  year 
1821,  as  stated  in  the  returns  of  the  secretary  of  the 
treasury — the  former  having  been  §64,898, 282 

And  the  latter  only  62,585,724 


Leaving  a  favourable  balance  of  §2,^02,558 

This  has  been  hailed  by  those  citizens  with  great 
rejoicing  and  exultation,  as  an  unerring  proof  of  great 
and  growing  prosperity. 

The  returns  of  the  treasury,  from  whence  these 
favourable  inferences  were  drawn,  were  delivered  to 
congress  some  weeks  since — but  not  printed  and  pub- 
lished till  within  a  few  days.  Of  course  access  to 
them  was  very  limited. 

On  examination  they  shed  great  light  on  the  sub- 
ject— and  remove  the  dense  clouds  in  which  it  was  en- 
veloped. 


105' 

It  appears  that  our  imports  of  merchandize  amount- 
ed to  854,520,834 

Whereas  our  exports  of  produce  and 
merchandize,  foreign  and  domestic, 
amounted  to  54,496,413 


Balance  against  us,  24,421 


But  in  addition  to  these  items,  there  was  a  very 
considerable  export  and  import  of  specie  and  bullion, 
viz. 

Exported,  810,477,969 

Imported,  8,064,890 

Balance  of  specie  and  bullion  against  us,     82,413,079 


It  is  probably  the  first  time  in  the  history  of  poli- 
tical economy,  that  an  excess  of  the  export  over  the 
import  of  specie,  has  been  regarded  as  a  proof  of  a 
favourable  balance  of  trade.  If  it  be  a  correct  crite- 
rion, Spain  and  Portugal  have  had  favourable  ba- 
lances for  centuries. 

There  was  still  a  difficulty,  not  easily  accounted  for. 
As  our  produce  and  manufactures  nearly  equalled 
our  imports  of  merchandize,  and  we  shipped  so  much 
more  specie  than  we  imported,  why  have  bills  of  ex- 
change risen  to  fourteen  per  cent.  ?  Of  this  problem  I 
shall  offer  an  explanation,  which  must  pass  for  what 
it  is  worth. 

Of  our  exports,  a  large  portion  is  shipped  on  spe- 
culation—and, in  consequence  of  glutted  markets, 
much  of  it  remains  at  all  times  on  hands,  in  Europe 
and  the  West  Indies.  The  quantity  of  flour  on  bond 
in  Great  Britain,  fluctuates  from  50  to  100,000 
barrels. 

Maury  &  Latham's  Price  Current,  of  August  31, 
1821,  states  that  there  were  then  in  Liverpool,  of 

14 


106 

American  flour  on  bond,  no  less  than  60,261  barrels, 
Of  which  the  sweet  was  only  8,000 

The  sour,  52,C00  barrels,  was  held  at  13s.  and  13s. 
6d.  sterling. 

Thus  in  this  one  article  in  that  single  port,  there 
was  unsold  to  the  amount  of  about  8240,000,  on  which 
there  would  accrue  a  loss  of  8 100,000. 

The  accounts  from  the  West  India  islands  and  other 
quarters,  received  for  months  past,  have  generally 
stated  that  the  markets  were  overstocked  wiih  Ame- 
rican produce.  No  small  portion  of  the  flour  remain- 
ing on  hands  in  the  West  Indies  is  sour,  and  of  course 
greatly  depreciated  in  value. 

These  items  form  a  considerable  drawback  on  the 
effective  amount  of  our  exports. 

There  are  other  circumstances  which  affect  the  rate 
of  exchange,  besides  the  amount  of  exports  and  im- 
ports. Of  these  1  shall  enumerate  some  of  the  most 
prominent. 

I.  The  commercial  debt  due  by  this  country  in 
Europe. 

II.  The  interest  due  on  the  government  and  bank 
stock  owned  by  foreigners. 

III.  The  income  on  real  estate  owned  abroad,  ei- 
ther by  descent  or  taken  in  payment  of  debts. 

Of  these  in  order. 

I.  That  the  commercial  debt,  considering  the  state 
of  this  country  for  some  years  past,  must  be  very 
considerable,  cannot  be  doubted.  It  has  been  esti- 
mated at  S  15,000,000.  But  I  shall  only  suppose 
SI  2,000,000. 

II.  Under  the  second  head  are  to  be  considered 
several  items — 

1.  The  stocks  of  the  government  of  the  United 
Slates,  held  by  foreigners,  which,  on  the  30th  Sep- 
tember,  1821,  amounted  to  823,557,097. 

[On  the  30th  September,  1807,  the  amount  stood 
thus : 


107 

Held  by  the  British,  .  ^17,099,571 

by  the  Dutch,         .  .       15,214,536 

by  other  foreigners,       .  2,257,290 

834,571,397] 

2.  On  the  1st  of  January,  1822,  according  to  a 
statement  published  by  the  Bank  of  the  United  States, 
there  were  on  the  books  of  that  institution  28,317 
shares  owned  by  foreigners,  amounting  to  82,831,700. 

3.  The  amount  owned  by  foreigners  in  the  stocks 
of  the  state  banks  and  insurance  companies.  This  is 
not  easily  estimated  with  accuracy.  1  shall  assume,  as 
a  very  low  calculation,  S  500,000. 

III.  The  third  item  far  exceeds  what  would  be 
supposed  on  a  superficial  view  of  the  subject.  From 
detached  information  received  from  authentic  sources, 
I  feel  satisfied  that  the  proceeds  of  estates  of  this  de- 
scription amount  annually  to  far  above  S25O,000. 

It  now  remains  to  sum  up  the  amount  of  these  va- 
rious drains  on  the  United  States. 

Interest  on  commercial  debt  S  720,000 

Annual  payment  of  principal,  supposed  1,000,000 

Interest  on  government  stock  1,413,425 
Interest  on  United  States'  Bank  stock  at 

4  per  cent.  113,260 
Interest  on  stock  of  state  banks  and  in- 
surance companies  at  6  per  cent.  30,000 
Proceeds  of  real  estate  250,000 


S  3,526,685 


The  large  quantity  of  our  produce  constantly  on 
hands  abroad  ;  the  loss  on  sour  flour  and  other  ar- 
ticles which  meet  with  bad  markets ;  added  to  the 
above  enormous  amount  of  steady  demands  on  the 
country,  will  fully  explain  the  rise  of  bills  of  exchange 
to  14  and  even  to  20  per  cent,  notwithstanding  the 


108 

amount  of  the  export  of  our  produce  is  nearly  equal 
to  that  of  our  imports. 

These  calculations  are  necessarily  somewhat  vague 
— and  some  of  them  may  be  erroneous.  But  what- 
ever deductions  are  made  from  them,  there  will  re- 
main a  sufficient  amount  to  enable  us  to  account  for 
the  advance  in  question. 

The  preceding  facts  shed  a  flood  of  light  on  the  in- 
jurious policy  of  the  United  States.  I  present  a 
bird's  eye  view  of  its  baleful  consequences. 

Commercial  debt  due  in  Europe,  sup- 
posed,            .             .             .  S  12,000,000 

Government  stock  held  there,             .  23,557,907 

United  States  bank  stock,           .  2,831,700 

Stock   of  state  banks    and   insurance 

companies,  supposed,          .             .  500,000 

Total,         .  .  §38,889,607 


These  are  the  actual  mortgages  on  the  United 
States  held  by  foreign  nations,  after  our  enjoyment  of 
the  best  constitution  in  the  world,  for  above  thirty 
years.  It  is  doubtful  whether  Great  Britain,  enor- 
mous as  her  debt  is,  owes  more  to  foreigners. 

Thus,  wuth  natural,  moral  and  political  advantages, 
never  exceeded,  perhaps  never  equalled,  we  are,  by  an 
erroneous  policy,  rendered  tributaries  to  nations  bur- 
dened with  enormous  national  debts,  with  grinding 
tythes  and  taxes — while  our  national  debt  and  taxes 
are  insignificant,  and  we  are  wholly  free  from  tythes. 
If  any  thing  could  arouse  congress  from  the  lethargy 
in  which  it  is  involved,  and  from  the  pernicious 
waste  of  time,  in  speeches  chiefly  delivered  to  the  re- 
porters, and  for  the  newspapers,  but  almost  wholly 
unheard  or  disregarded  by  the  members,  it  would  be 
such  a  state  of  things  as  is  here  depicted,  whereby  a 
great  nation  is  arrested  in  its  career  of  prosperity,  and 
its  energies  awfully  paralized.     Quousgue  tandem  ? 


INDEX. 


Page 
AGRICULTURE,  ample  protection  of,  .         .         68,  69 

Balance  of  trade,  unfavourable,       .         .         .         .         .     105 

Balance  of  trade,  unfavourable,  pernicious  consequen- 
ces of,        .........         51 

Balance  of  trade,  Mr.  Cambreleng's  denunciation  of,     .         51 
Bank  of  England,  terrific  anticipations  of  its  consequfcn- 

ces,        ..........     83 

Bell,  Samuel,  Gov.  of  New-Hampshire,  sound  maxims 

of, 5 

Bread  stuffs  prohibited  in  Great  Britain,  France,  Spain, 

and  Portugal,  ........     92 

Breweries  and  distilleries  of  Holland,  immense  diminu- 
tion of, 48 

British  navigation  act,  attempt  to  effect  its  repeal,         .         95 
Cambreleng,  Mr.  his  erroneous  views  of  the  causes  of 

the  distress  of  England,  ......     27 

Carroll,  Wm.  Governor  of  Tennessee,  sound  maxims  of,         5 
Chaptal,  his  views  of  the  French  policy,  .         .         .34 

Citizens  of  U.  S.  burdens  of,  .         .  .         .     26 

Clinton,  Dewitt,  Governor  of  New-York,  sound  maxims  of,    6 
Coarse  cotton  goods,  prohibitory  duties  on,        .         .         .18 
Coffee,  immense  importation  of,         .....     78 

Columbia  river,  intended  establishment  at,        .         .         .     96 
Commerce,     Mr.  Cambreleng's    extravagant    calcula- 
tions of  the  profits  of,  ......     27 

Commerce,  expense  of  the  protection  of,  ...     95 

(^ommerce,  small  number  of  persons  engaged  in,       .       97,  98 
Committee  of  ways  and  means,  fallacious  statement  of  the,    19 
Contrast,  odious,         .......     71,  103 

Congress,  withering  neglect  of,  .         .         17,  41,  50,  102 

Cotton,  importation  of,  into  England,         .         .         .         .59 

Congress  of  1816,  answerable  for  the  distresses  of  the 

nation,     ..........     77 

Convalescence  of  the  United  States,  .         .         .         .17 

Cotton,  prices  of,        ....         .     57,  61,  62,  63,  64 

Cotton,  reduction  of  the  price  of,  ....     62 

Cotton  yarn,  prohibition  of  in  France,  .         .         .     3S 

Cotton  manufacture,  extraordinary  profits  of,  .         .     25 

Dallas's  tariff,  reduction  of,  .....     56 

Debts  due  to  foreign  nations,  .....     106 

Distresses  of  Pennsylvania,  lamentable  and  documentary 

picture  of, .     14 

Distress,  general,  picture  of,  drawn  by  the  secretary  of 

the  treasury,  ......  .21 


110  '       INDEX. 

Page 
Do  to  others  as  you  would  be  done  by,  .         .         .94 

Dutch  tariff,  ruinous  consequences  of,  ...       101 

Dutch,  shrewd  policy  of,  ......     65 

Duties,  low,  ruinous  consequences  of,  ...        36 

Duties  for  six  years  .......     84 

Duties,  enormous  amount  of,  in  1815  and  1816,  .  .  58 
England,  contributions  and  burdens  of,  ...         24 

Error,  pernicious, 10 

Extortion,  calumnious  charges  of,  ....         56 

Extortion,  injustice  of  the  charge  of,  .  .  78,  80,  81,  103 
Fable  of  the  belly  and  the  members,  exemplification  of,         35 

Flour,  prices  of, 57,  61,  62,  63,  64 

France,  view  of  her  situation  for  twenty  years,  .         .     29 

France,  sufferings  of, 29 

France,  present  prosperous  state  of,         .         .     29,  30,  31,  32 
France,  policy  of,  .......     31,  34 

Gallatin,  Albert,  calls  for  information,  respecting  manu- 
factures, .........     55 

Glasgow,  cotton  manufactures  of,  .         .         •         .         25 

Glutted  markets,  consequences  of,  ....     65 

Grain-growing  states,  interests  of  sacrificed  to  those  of 

the  cotton  and  tobacco-planting  states,  .         .     91,  92 

Great  Britain,  revenue  and  enormous  expenditure  of,      .      23 
Hamilton,  Alexander,  sound  maxims  of,        .         .         .     2,  32 
Hamiltonian  school  of  political  economists,  progress  of  the,  3,  7 
Hemp,  importations  of,  ......     86 

Hiester,  Joseph,  Governor  of  Pennsylvania,  sound  max- 
ims of, .      6 

Holland,  calamitous  state  of,  ....     45,46,47 

Holland,  an  awful  beacon, .90 

Holland,  erroneous  views  of  her  situation,  .         .    43,  44 

Identity  of  interests  between   the   several  states  and 

classes  of  citizens,  .......     91 

Imports  for  six  years,  ......         84 

Importations,  extravagant,  in  1815  and  16,  .  .  .58 
Lace  manufacture,  almost  annihilated  in  Holland,  .  .  49 
Leather  rrianufacture,  extraordinary  profits  of,  .         .     25 

Legislative  neglect  of  public  distress,  censure  on,  .  .  3 
Linen  manufacture,  extraordinary  profits  of,      .         .         .     25 

Louis  XVIII.  policy  of,  33 

Luxuries  admitted  into  the  United  States  at  low  duties,     ,    71 
Madison,  president,  his  recommendation  to  protect  manu- 
factures,           .         .         ,     55 

Manufacturers,  gross  neglect  of, 98 

Manufacturers,  contempt  of,      .         .         .         .         .         .98 

Manufacturers,  advice  to,  98,  99 


INDEX.  Ill 

Page 
"Machinery,  beneficial  effects  of,  in  countries  of  slender 
population,     .........     28 

Machinery,  pernicious   effects  of,  in  countries  of   dense 

population, 28 

Manufacturers,  100,000  bereft  of  employment,  .         .     63 

Manufacturers,  distresses  and  ruin  of,        .         .         .         .63 

Manufactures  of  Great  Britain,  wonderful  advantages  of,       25 
Manufacturers,  obloquy  cast  on,         .         .         .  .         .57 

Manufactures,  immense  capital  vested  in,  .         .         .     53 

Manufactures,  slender  protection  of,  ....     69 

Manufacturers,  great  disadvantage  of,        .         .         .         .54 

Mendicity,  extent  of,  in  Holland        .         .         .         .         .46 

Merchants  importunate  for  redress  of  grievances       .         .     95 
Merchants  oppose  the  attempts  to  relieve  the  manufac- 
turers .........     96 

Merino  wool,  rise  in  the  price  of,       .         .         .         .         .54 

Monroe,  James,  President,  correct  views  of,      .         .         .6 
Necessaries  of  life,  subject  to  high  duties  .         .         .71 

New  York,  distressed  state  of  its  interior  .         .         .21 

Objections  to  Mr.  Baldwin's  tariff  answered      .  85,  86,  87 

Ohio,  Kentucky  and  Tennessee,  distressed  state  of,  .     19 

Petersburgh,  Russia,  imports  and  exports  of,     .         .         .     91 
Policy,  illiberal,  advocated  in  a  public  document       .         .     93 
Poorer  classes,  oppression  of,  by  the  existing  tariff  .         .     71 
Pottery,  manufacture  of,  destroyed    .         .         .  .         8,  77 

Proportion   of  agriculturists,   manufacturers  and  mer- 
chants in  eleven  states 97 

Quackery  in  political  economy  .         .         .         .         .42 

Quarterly  Review,  triumph  of,  over  Adam  Smith      .         .       8 

Quarterly  Review,  extracts  from, 9 

Raw  materials,  rise  of  the  price  of,  ....     54 

Rejection  of  Mr.  Baldwin's  tariff  a  fortunate   circum- 
stance for  the  manufacturers  .....  100 
Relaxation  of  European  systems,  unfounded  assertion 

of  the,  89 

Restrictive  system,  transcendently  beneficial  to   Great 

Britain  and  France         .......  101 

Retrospection,  advantages  of,  .....     13 

Revenue  of  Holland,  failure  of,  .....     49 

Russia,  policy  of, 90 

Slave  trade,  slow  progress  of  its  abolition,  ...       7 

Staples  of  the  united  states,  great  rise  in  the  price  of       79,  80 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  sound  opinions  of,  .         .     88 

Scotland,  taxes  of,  for  1815        .         .         .         .         .         .24 

Stocks  held  by  foreign  nations  .....  106 

Skinner,  Richard,  Governor  of  Vermont,  sound  max- 
ims of,  5 


112 


INDEX. 


Smith,  Adam,  pernicious  maxims  of, 

Smith,  Adam,  sound  maxims  of, 

Specie,  importation  of,  by  the  Bank  of  the  United  States 

Specie,  enormous  exportation  of,  to  China 

Smuggling,  fallacy  of  the  outcry  about. 

Sugar  planters,  appeal  to, 

Tariff,  Mr.  Baldwin's,  objections  to, 

Tariff,  partial,  unjust,  and  wicked 

Taritfof  1789,  odious  injustice  of, 

Tariif,  impolicy  and  inconsistency  of, 

Tarifl',  synopsis  of,     . 

Tariff,  Mr.  Baldwin's,  view  of. 

Tariff  of  Russia,  reference  to,    . 

Tariff  of  Holland,  extract  from. 

Tariff  of  Holland,  deleterious  consequences  of, 

Tariff  of  Napoleon,  view  of  the. 

Tariff  of  Louis  XVlil.      . 

Teas,  inmiense  importation  of, 

Tobacco,  reduction  of  the  price  of, 

Tobacco,  prices  of,  .....    57, 

United  States,  experience  of,     . 

United  States,  distresses  of. 

United  States,  convalescence  of 

United  States,  prosperous  situation  of,  after  the  war 

United  States,  according  to  Mr.  Cambreleng,  the  most 

flourishing  country  in  the  world     .         . 
^\(olcott,  Oliver,  Governor  of  Connecticut,  admirable 

views  of, 

Woollen  Manufacture,  extraordinary  profits  of. 


75, 


81 


61,  62     4 


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